Ukrainian rebels threaten to seize enterprises over blockade
Since Russia-backed rebels grabbed control over swathes of Ukraine’s industrial east in 2014 the heavy enterprises there have been trapped in a legal grey zone
Kiev — Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine on Monday threatened to seize control of enterprises across their territories unless Kiev halts a blockade by nationalist protesters. The leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics said they would install "external managers" at industries on their turf if Kiev did not end the month-long blockade by Wednesday. The blockade by nationalist activists angered over Ukraine trading with the coal-rich insurgent-controlled east has disrupted trade and threatened power supplies to the rest of the country. Since Moscow-backed rebels grabbed control over swathes of the industrial east at the start of a war in 2014 the heavy enterprises there that provide most of the work have been trapped in a legal grey zone. Trade with the rebel regions has gone on even as Kiev and the separatists are locked in a 34-month conflict that has claimed more than 10,000 lives. In order to continue trading with the rest of Ukraine the firms have...
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