Image copyright AP Image caption Mr Kernes has been described as a "mini-oligarch" 
 
 The mayor of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine has been shot and critically wounded amid continuing unrest in the region. Hide Caption 11 of 168 
 
 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian militants detain three men on Sunday, May 18, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. Kernes was a staunch opponent of the pro-West Maidan movement that toppled President Viktor Yanukovych in February and was widely viewed as the organizer of activists sent to Kiev from eastern Ukraine to harass those demonstrators. Hide Caption 65 of 168 
 
 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Detained observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe arrive to take part in a news conference Sunday, April 27, in Slovyansk. In a bid to ratchet up the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Barack Obama has promised to levy new sanctions on Russian individuals and companies in retaliation for Moscow's alleged provocations in eastern Ukraine. On Monday, masked militants with automatic weapons seized another city hall building in eastern Ukraine, this time in Kostyantynivka, 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the Russian border. Hide Caption 104 of 168 
 
 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian supporters beat a pro-Ukrainian activist during a rally in Kharkiv on Sunday, April 13. Hide Caption 112 of 168 
 
 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Members of the self-proclaimed government the "Donetsk Republic" vote April 10 during a meeting at the seized regional administration building in Donetsk. Western nations accuse Moscow of supporting separatist gunmen who are occupying official buildings in cities across eastern Ukraine. After Russian troops seized most of Ukraine's bases in Crimea, interim Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov ordered the withdrawal of armed forces from the Black Sea peninsula, citing Russian threats to the lives of military staff and their families.
– Gennady Kernes, the mayor of the Eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, was shot in the back this morning, and doctors are currently performing emergency surgery and "fighting for his life," city hall tells the AP. The circumstances of the shooting are unclear, though a Ukrainian report spotted by the Wall Street Journal said he was swimming in a local spring. Kernes was a staunch ally of ousted president Viktor Yanukovych, notes the BBC, and was accused of sending activists to Kiev to harass pro-Western protesters against him. When Yanukovych fled the country, Kernes briefly did too, before returning and declaring that he now supported a united Ukraine. Kharkiv has so far managed to fend off the pro-Russian separatists that have taken over many other Eastern Ukrainian cities. Kernes is also Jewish, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency points out, and was the target of anti-Semitic hate speech during his mayoral election. Meanwhile: Masked militants today seized the city hall building in yet another town—Kostyantynivka, which lies between Slovyansk and Donetsk—and raised a flag proclaiming it part of the "Donestsk Republic." They also reportedly control the town's police station. The self-proclaimed mayor of Slovyansk held a press conference yesterday in which he paraded before the cameras a group of European military observers separatists had captured, declaring them "prisoners of war." He accused them of being spies for NATO, and said he might exchange them for pro-Russian activists held by Kiev, CNN reports. The observers said they'd agreed to the press conferences so that their families could see them. Shortly after the appearance, the separatists released one of the observers for health reasons; the Swedish captive had been suffering from diabetes.