MOSCOW. June 5 (Interfax) - Ukrainian special forces take reprisals in Krasny Lyman regarding people, who support the May 11 referendum on the region's independence, militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) said.
"Police have just given Ukrainian special forces information on self-defense activists in Krasny Lyman. As a result, special forces took up to 25 self-defense activists. Two of them were released because they were not on the lists given to police. The fate of the others is unknown," head of the South-Eastern Front information center Konstantin Knyrik told Interfax on Thursday.
According to the information of Knyrik, Ukrainian special forces are trying to identify in Krasny Lyman members of election committees, who were engaged in holding the referendum of the DPR independence. "They are trying to identify and catch people, who were involved in organizing the referendum or were members of the election committees. Besides, they threaten civilians and demand food be brought for free. People are scared and forced to oblige," he said.
Headquarters of the forceful operation in southeastern Ukraine said earlier this week that servicemen and National Guard had control over Krasny Lyman. The DPR said back then that special forces shot dead around 25 militiamen wounded in a local hospital. Kyiv denied this information.