Ukraine’s acting President Olexander Turchynov was forced to cancel a planned visit to Lithuania, after pro-Russian agitators stormed government buildings in three key eastern Ukrainian cities, demanding referendums on independence from Kiev.

They clashed with police in Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv, and hung Russian flags.  Interior Minister Arsen Avakov accused Russian President Vladimir President Putin of “ordering and paying for another wave of separatist turmoil in the country's east.” 

Meanwhile, Kiev is worrying about another front opening up in its tense stand-off with Moscow, after the interim government said it would refuse to pay for gas at a new, inflated price set by Russia’s Gazprom last week – more than A$520 per 1,000 cubic meters.  Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told the cabinet over the weekend that the new price for gas was unfair.

“Russia has not managed to grab Ukraine through military aggression,” said Yatsenyuk, referring to Russia’s annexation of Crimea, “So now they are pursuing a plan to pressure and grab Ukraine through gas and economic aggression.”  He said that Ukraine would continue buying gas at the “acceptable market price” of A$289 per 1,000 cubic meters.