These Masked, Pro-Russian Gunman Are 'Playing Out The Crimean Scenario' In Eastern Ukraine

Reuters/Stringer

Much like the buildup to the annexation of Crimea, the identity of the armed men currently driving separatism in east Ukraine is unclear.

Reuters describes them as "armed men, believed to be pro-Russian protesters," although the men that seized government buildings in three eastern Ukrainian cities on Sunday did more than protest.

Pro-Russia activists who took over the regional government building in Donetsk are now calling for the establishment of the "Donetsk people's republic" via referendum by May 11.

Reuters/StringerAn armed man, believed to be a pro-Russian protester, stands guard inside the offices of the state security service in Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine April 7, 2014.

Acting Ukrainian President Oleksander Turchinov said that the action in three cities of eastern Ukraine - Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk - indicates the "second stage" of special operations by Russia aimed at breaking up Ukraine.

He added that the Kremlin is "playing out the Crimean scenario." Both situations involve pro-Russian gunman, many of them masked, who look professionally trained and fully prepared for the takeovers.

Reuters/StringerArmed men, believed to be pro-Russian protesters, wear masks inside the offices of the state security service in Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine April 7, 2014.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia - which has tens of thousands of troops amassed on Ukraine's eastern border - is prepared to intervene to protect Russian speakers from Ukrainian nationalists.

However, the reality is that Putin has sent Russian forces, masked as separatists, to deftly commandeer various state buildings in the Russia-speaking east of the country.

Reuters/StringerA poorly-masked pro-Russian gunman.

Consequently, Ukraine and others believe that these "protests" are all part of Putin's plan to pull the Russian-speaking parts of Ukraine back into Moscow's orbit and away from the new West-leaning government in Kiev.