they are infringing the rights of the ethnic Russian population and there has been no evidence of Russians in Ukraine facing harassment.

Since Crimea held a secession referendum and then was annexed by Russia in March, calls for similar votes in Ukraine’s east have emerged.

The international community has expressed growing anxiety over the large Russian troop movements along the Ukrainian border. NATO says up to 40,000 Russian troops have mobilized and present a distinct threat to Ukraine. Russia, for its part, says it has the right to move its troops wherever it wants on its own territory.

Also Monday, Interfax cited police in Donetsk as saying an armed group attempted to seize the regional state television broadcaster. The Interior Ministry said the gunmen fired into the air and police andguards in the building returned fire, Interfax reported.

“After that, the attackers fled to an unknown location,” police were cited as saying.

On Sunday, pro-Russian crowds stormed government buildings in Donetsk, as well as Luhansk and Kharkiv, all cities located in Ukraine’s heavily Russian-speaking east. Authorities say all the storming parties appeared to have been armed.

Pro-Russian demonstrations have taken place across eastern Ukraine over the past few weekends and official buildings have been occupied, but the rallies have generally fizzled out within hours. On Sunday, however, one witness in Donetsk said the crowd included large numbers of masked men who behaved more aggressively than at previous rallies.

On Saturday, Ukraine’s Security Service said it had detained a 15-strong armed gang that was planning to seize power in the eastern province of