Pro-Russia Forces Beat Maidan Occupiers in Kharkiv, Northeast Ukraine

You got the feeling of the enormity of the Ukraine crisis with the woman-in-the-street interview at CBS News I posted the other day. The woman said "Russia will do bad things." And she was scared.

I'm reminded of the woman's genuine fear with the news and images from Kharkiv, at the Washington Post, "In northeast Ukraine, pro-Maidan occupiers are routed by counter-demonstrators":

In pro-Russian Kharkiv today, activists for the revolution are beaten and forced to kneel: pic.twitter.com/onto628G1e via @HromadskeTV #Ukraine

— Simon Shuster (@shustry) March 1, 2014

Amazing shot of #Russia flag replacing #Ukraine flag in city of Kharkiv. http://t.co/PH93CebXWW pic.twitter.com/vRXMwcoWaW

— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) March 1, 2014

KHARKIV, Ukraine — Anger spilled onto the streets in the eastern city of Kharkiv on Saturday as protesters stormed the regional government headquarters, ending the six-day occupation of the building by Ukrainian nationalist activists.

Police stood by as protesters swarmed into the building, beating their opponents and taking prisoners before hoisting Russian and Ukrainian flags at the front door.

Kharkiv is one of several cities across eastern Ukraine where demonstrators with a generally pro-Russian tilt held rallies and raised Russian flags.

The rout occurred during an otherwise peaceful rally in Kharkiv’s Freedom Square, where tens of thousands of people gathered in the morning to protest against the Maidan revolution.

A series of small explosions in the square triggered an angry reaction from the crowd. Hundreds of protesters broke through a police barricade around the regional government building and attacked the occupiers.

The assault on the building was “completely spontaneous,” said Denis Levshinko, a sociology student who participated in the rout of the Maidan occupiers. “We are all fed up with them. We united and we chased them out.”

Levshinko said the protesters clashed with about 500 occupiers, armed with sticks and baseball bats, inside the government building. Many of the activists were taken captive and dragged onto the street, where, forced to their knees, they apologized to the jubilant crowd.

“Beat them, that’s the right thing to do,” shouted one woman. “They should not even be alive.”