Washington, DC – IRI issued the following statement regarding attacks by armed, pro-Russia militants in eastern Ukraine.
“Over the weekend and continuing into Monday, armed, pro-Russia militants attacked police stations and government buildings throughout eastern Ukraine, in what can only be described as a coordinated effort to destabilize Ukraine.
“While the illegal referendum in Crimea was concerning enough, the areas under siege in eastern Ukraine are not majority Russian…they are majority Ukrainian, further undermining the idea that ethnic Russians need to be protected from a nationalist Ukrainian government, something that was claimed in Crimea.
“These attacks, and the continued presence of tens of thousands of Russian troops on Ukraine’s border, will do nothing to stabilize the situation and allow Ukraine to move forward with building a strong democratic country that is accountable to its citizens.”
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