1 March • On 1 March 2014, the council of
Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine's easternmost region, voted to demand official language status for Russian, a stop to "persecution of
Berkut fighters", disarming of Maidan self-defense units and a ban for a number of political organizations like
Svoboda and
UNA-UNSO. They threatened the Ukrainian central authorities, saying that they reserved the right "to ask for help from the brotherly people of the
Russian Federation". Pro-Russian citizens held a rally of up to 5,000 against the new government demanding a referendum on whether to join Russia. • There were reports of busloads of Russian citizens crossing the border into Ukraine to support pro-Russian demonstrators. At an administrative building in
Kharkiv, a Russian from Moscow replaced the Ukrainian flag with a Russian one. The flag was restored and 200 policemen guarded the building. • Protesters in
Donetsk reportedly raised the Russian tricolor over the
Donetsk Oblast Regional Administration building, in addition to electing a new pro-Russian governor. Demonstrators in
Mariupol also protested in front of regional offices, waving Russian flags. According to Interfax, between 5,000 and 20,000 participated in a pro-Russian demonstration in
Odesa. The city council of
Donetsk voted on 1 March to have a referendum on the status of the region but lawmakers made no mention of what question would be asked or when. • Various Russian news media outlets began to use the term
Russian Spring () to describe the protests.
2 March In Zaporizhzhia, over 5,000 protested against Russian intervention and pro-Russian demonstrations, and unity in Ukraine. They also protested against people seizing state buildings and raising Russian flags over them. Similar rallies were held in Dnipropetrovsk (a rally described by local reporters as the largest in years that drew an estimated 10,000 people), Odesa (several thousand),
Mykolaiv (according to local media 5,000 to 10,000 people) and Kharkiv (a few thousand protesters).
3 March Several hundred pro-Russian protesters led by
Pavel Gubarev gathered at the Donetsk Oblast administrative building, broke through police barricades and retook the facility, and raised the Russian flag. Pavel had claimed to be the people's governor of the region. Some 200–500 demonstrators with Russian flags, opponents of the new authorities in Kyiv, attempted to seize the
Odesa Regional State Administration building. They demanded that a referendum on the establishment of an "Odesa
Autonomous Republic" be held.
4 March Pro-Russian separatists consolidated their control of the local Regional Administration in
Donetsk.
Pavel Gubarev was elected governor, and told reporters that work on the structure of the new administration is being done.
5 March In
Donetsk, a bomb threat forced the evacuation of the Regional Administration building, which forced out the pro-Russian activists who had been occupying the building and flying the Russian flag since 1 March. After the bomb-scare and subsequent evacuation, the Ukrainian flag was raised over the building for the first time since 1 March. Meanwhile, 1,000 pro-Russian protesters marched in
Kharkiv, demanding a referendum on federalism for Ukraine and making Russian a state language.
6 March After retaking the Donetsk RSA the previous day, pro-Russian protesters lost control of the building after a pre-dawn offensive led by police and the national
Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), which is under the control of the Euromaidan leaders. In addition to capturing control of the RSA and hoisting the Ukrainian flag, the SBU arrested self-proclaimed new Donetsk governor and pro-Russian protest leader
Pavel Gubarev, charging him with "encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine" as well as "actions aimed at the forcible change or overthrow of the constitutional order, or the seizure of state power". About 70 supporters of Gubarev were also arrested.
9 March • Pro-Russian protesters stormed the Municipal Administration building in
Luhansk, brought down the Ukrainian flag and hoisted the Russian one instead, urging authorities to hold a referendum over joining Russia. Meanwhile, Luhansk's governor
Mykhailo Bolotskykh fled the city, and the protestors claimed a pro-Russian figure was elected as the city's new governor. Later in the day Bolotskih stated that he continued to carry out his duties and that his resignation was written under pressure and it had no legal force. • In Donetsk, 10,000 pro-Russian activists held a demonstration, while the authorities of Donetsk denounced the referendum on the status of the region. • In Kharkiv 10,000 protested against Russia.
10 March Ukrainian Prime Minister
Arseniy Yatsenyuk stated that central authorities maintain control over Donetsk and had regained control of Luhansk. The same day employees of the Russian Defence Ministry's Intelligence Directorate
GRU were arrested in Donetsk. Also,
Mikhail Dobkin was arrested on charges of leading a separatist movement. Reports from the Russian media and a Russian diplomat in Kyiv allege that 300 employees of
private security companies mercenaries are active in Ukraine as did a Russian Foreign Ministry statement released on 10 March saying that Russia is "outraged by the chaos which is currently ruling in eastern regions of Ukraine." These allegations were interpreted by
The Washington Post as potentially being a "pretext for Russian military intervention into areas of Ukraine beyond Crimea."
11 March Police freed the Municipal Administration building in Luhansk and briefly arrested the leader of the pro-Russian movement there and local councilman,
Arsen Klinchayev. The same day Chief of the Security Service of Ukraine
Valentyn Nalyvaichenko stated he had evidence that employees of the GRU were involved in the organization of provocations in Ukraine and that SВU had detained a 37-year-old Russian citizen, who was engaged in formation of an armed subversive group. The Ukrainian National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting demanded providers to shut down the broadcast of Russian television channels
Rossiya 24,
Channel One Russia,
RTR Planeta, and
NTV Mir in Ukraine.
13 March One pro-Kyiv protester from
Svoboda, Dmytro Cherniavsky, was stabbed to death in the city of
Donetsk and a further fifteen were hospitalized after rival rallies clashed in
Lenin Square. The local health ministry said that around 1,000 pro-Kyiv protesters were attacked by 2,000 pro-Moscow protesters, Witnesses claimed some pro-Russian activists had arrived in vehicles with Russian number plates, and governor of
Donetsk Oblast Serhiy Taruta said the pro-Russian demonstrators were citizens of
Russia. The clashes were described by Reuters as being the worst violence in Ukraine since the 18–23 February 2014
overthrow of the
Yanukovich government. Amateur footage showed columns of trucks and armoured vehicles amassing at the border town of
Lopan, just outside of
Kharkiv.
Kharkiv Mayor
Hennadiy Kernes was placed in night-time house arrest. Four participants of yesterdays clashes in Donetsk were arrested. According to
Euronews the situation in Donetsk "was quiet".
15 March In Kharkiv, one pro-Russia demonstrator and a passerby were killed by
buckshot when Ukrainian nationalists opened fire on a group of men. Police said events leading to the deaths began when a group of nationalists opened fire from inside a car at a pro-Russian protest being held on Kharkiv's central Svoboda (Freedom) Square. A group of several dozen pro-Russian protesters chased the car, tracking it to the headquarters of the
Patriot of Ukraine (Patriot Ukrainy) nationalist group. The pro-Russians tried to storm the building and the nationalists opened fire, killing one of them along with a passer-by, police said. The Patrioty Ukrainy group then took several hostages from other offices inside the building as the police arrived. Six people were injured in the ensuing gunfight, including a police officer who suffered serious wounds. The nationalists eventually agreed to give up their arms and surrender. Police made 30 arrests. Both rival groups blamed each other for starting the clashes.
16 March In Donetsk, protesters stormed the local
SBU headquarters for the second day in a row, in addition to the local prosecutor's office and the headquarters of the
Industrial Union of Donbass, owned by magnate and local Kyiv-appointed governor
Serhiy Taruta. In Kharkiv, protesters marched through the city centre carrying a long
Russian tricolor and demonstrated in front of the Consulate General of
Poland, protesting against Western interference into Ukrainian affairs. Pro-Russian protesters in Kharkiv later broke into a
Prosvita office stole
Ukrainian-language books and then set them alight in small bonfires in the street. Meanwhile, impromptu referendums were set up in the city squares of Luhansk and Mykolaiv, asking for
federalization to be introduced to Ukraine. Ukrainian military units heading towards the Russian border were stopped from passing by residents of Donetsk and Luhansk. Due to weather, only a few hundred attended protests in Donetsk.
17 March has been adopted by protesters who feel "sympathetic towards the Soviet Union or imperial Russia and those who denounce Ukrainian nationalists as 'fascists'" In
Odesa Anton Davidchenko, the leader of the pro-Russian organization "Youth Unity" (who had organized by the majority of rallies in support of Russia), was arrested for "encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine" and "treason". Ukrainian soldiers meanwhile increased their presence in
border towns (bordering
Russia).
18 March Ukrainian Prime Minister
Arseniy Yatsenyuk (in an "address to the residents of the
southern and
eastern regions of Ukraine") stated that his
government had introduced "a special position of deputy prime minister in the government" tasked with "
decentralization of the administration" "which will give the
regions,
cities, and
districts broad powers and funding needed for the development of the regions". Yatsenyuk also stated that law enforcers would soon start "seizing all unregistered firearms" in Ukraine. Yatsenyuk further claimed "Law enforcement agencies have collected compelling evidence of the involvement of
Russian secret services in unrest in the east of our country". In a televised address in front of
both houses of parliament Russian President
Vladimir Putin stated "Don't trust those who frighten you with Russia... we do not need a divided Ukraine. We do not want a partition of Ukraine, we do not need this". He also stated that "
Russia and Ukraine were not just neighbours but one
nation" and that Russia would always "protect" the speakers of the
Russian language in Ukraine. He also called the
Verkhovna Rada's vote of 23 February 2014 to repeal a
language law aimed at giving Russian and other minority languages in Ukraine the status of
regional language a "scandalous law on the revision of the language policy, which directly violated the rights of the
national minorities".
19 March Andriy Parubiy, the new Secretary of the
National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, ordered the
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to introduce a visa regime for Russian citizens, who had since Ukraine's independence enjoyed
visa-free travel to Ukraine.
20 March A number of public organizations picketed the building of the
Kharkiv Oblast Council with the requirement to hold a referendum in Kharkiv. Several hundred people participated in the picket, they held banners "For the referendum," "Kharkiv is for the Customs Union (
Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia)," "Customs Union will revive the industry of Kharkiv."
22 March In Kherson nearly 300 Communist Party supporters held a protest in favour of the federalization of Ukraine, but were met with 3,000 pro-Ukrainian protesters. In Donetsk 2,000 protesters held a pro-Russia rally and demanded a referendum to give the Donbas region greater autonomy; demonstrators carried Russian flags and chanted "Russia" and "Yanukovych is our elected president." They then picketed the
Donetsk Oblast Council. Nearly 1,000 rallied in Luhansk. They demanded Kharytonov and Klinchaev's release and also supported Yanukovych. A Kharkiv demonstration of a few hundred people on 22 March also demanded broad autonomy for southeastern regions and demanded to disarm the "Right Sector" members
23 March • In Odesa 3,000–4,000 gathered in an "anti-fascist" protest, demanding Davidchenko's release (who was jailed for 2 months), to stop political repressions, and claimed that Yanukovych is the legitimate president. The rally was supported by the pro-Russians, one of whom, Anton Rayevsky, is a member of a
Black Hundreds group. The
Security Service of Ukraine later found pamphlets in which the "Black Hundreds" called for "the destruction" of
Jews in Odesa. • Over 100 rallied in Zaporizhzhia in favour of Russia and Yanukovych.
25 March • The Kyiv District Administrative Court issued a ruling to suspend the broadcasting (in Ukraine) of the Russian TV channels
Rossiya 24,
Channel One Russia,
RTR Planeta, and
NTV Mir for the time of the consideration of a lawsuit by the
National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio (). By then in Kyiv and in 22 of the 24
Oblasts of Ukraine (provinces) the broadcasting of these channels had stopped; in
Donetsk Oblast half of the providers still broadcast the channels, in
Odesa Oblast 81% of the providers still broadcast the channels and in
Kherson Oblast this number was 91%. In
Crimea and
Sevastopol the figure was 0%. • In Kharkiv more than 2,000 Ukrainians held a counter-Russian protest. People shouted "For a united Ukraine, including Crimea!" and "No to separatism." "We're tired of having Kharkiv called a pro-Russian city, of hearing reports that people are walking around with Russian flags," said journalist Volodymyr Chystylin, one of the organizers.
28 March Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced that pro-Russian protests had declined significantly. In Kharkiv
Antimaidan activist Igor Kromskoho (nicknamed "Topaz") was placed under house arrest for his alleged involvement in the
1 March raid on the Kharkiv Regional State Administration building.
29 March • According to local media, in Kharkiv about 150 people rallied for federalization "for the return of property to the people of basic industries, banking, transportation and infrastructure and against imperialism and for friendship among peoples." According to one of the organizers, "due to bad weather the meeting was short". • In Donetsk about 1,000 pro-Russian supporters attended a rally organized by the
Russian Bloc party; the protesters advocated uniting
Eastern Ukraine with the
Russian Federation and talked about federalization. Mayor of Donetsk Oleksandr Lukianchenko stated that 21 March 2014
accession of Crimea to the Russian Federation "killed the very essence of the federalization of Ukraine". • Russian neo-Nazi Anton Rayevsky (a member of the
Black Hundreds organization) who had attended the pro-Russian "anti-fascist" protest in Odesa of 23 March, was deported from Ukraine and banned from entering the country. He was accused of attempted sabotage and attempting to provoke armed conflict. The SBU also found material calling for ethnic hatred and killing Ukrainians and Jews in the Odesa region.
30 March streets on 30 March 2014 • In Donetsk about 1,000 pro-Russian supporters again attended a rally organized by the
Russian Bloc party, some of them holding banners that claimed
Viktor Yanukovych was Ukraine's legitimate president. About 30 of them later shortly blocked several tracks at Donetsk's main railway station. Closely to Donetsk participants of a bike ride "for the unity of Ukraine" were attacked by about 10 people. Pro-Russian supporters attacked a car with an EU flag on it, smashing its windows, and chanting "Whack the faggots!" • In Luhansk 500 people held a pro-Russia rally. They demanded a "reset of
Zionists" and demanded a Russian occupation. About a hundred people held a counter unity rally "Luhansk is Ukraine". • In Kharkiv about 1,500 Also in Kharkiv, 500
FC Metalist Kharkiv supporters, as well as fans of
FC Shakhtar Donetsk, held a march "in support of the unity of Ukraine". Elsewhere in the city thousand people publicly commemorated the fortieth day since the death of the last "
Heavenly hundred" (people killed during
Euromaidan). • In Odesa media reported a turnout between 5,000 and 10,000 people Late in the afternoon thousands of pro-Russian activists attacked participants of the pro-Ukraine march, which attracted up to 5,000–10,000 attendees. • In
Dnipropetrovsk about two hundred publicly commemorated the "Heavenly hundred". And fifteen hundred football supporters of
FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and
FC Dynamo Kyiv held a Ukrainian unity march to the
Dnipro-Arena. • In Zaporizhzhia 1,000 pro-Ukrainian demonstrators gathered to pay respects to those killed during the revolution. The same occurred in Kherson, where more than 1,000 attended. • In
Voronezh, (
Russia)
Don Cossacks of the "
Great Don Army" stated that they might come to Ukraine to "come to the rescue" because they "can not stand idly by when our Russian people in a situation of actual
genocide". According to them a "
Judeo Banderavyets", a Jewish and Western Ukrainian diaspora-headed clan operating from abroad, had now almost completely seized power in the territory of Ukraine".
31 March Media incorrectly reported that the
Donetsk Oblast Council had formally appealed to the
Ukrainian parliament to take measures to "stabilize the situation in the country" and to "urgently consider the possibility of adopting a law on local referendum after broad public discussion", to start the draft of "a new version of the constitution that would guarantee decentralisation of government by giving the local authorities broader powers and responsibility for the state of affairs in the region, the creation of regional and district executive bodies, and the formation (pending parliamentary elections) of a two-chamber parliament, where the upper house will express the interests of regions and its members will have the right of legislative initiative". However, the next day the Chairman of the
Donetsk Oblast Council, Andriy Shishatskiy, stated that the letter was not sent on behalf of the council as it was not in session that day and that the reported letter was an appeal by an individual local MP. ==April==