Ukraine Guardsmen Fire on Crowd; Casualties Reported

Ukrainian national guardsmen have opened fire on a crowd outside a town hall in eastern Ukraine and an official for the region's insurgents says there are fatalities. Today's bloodshed in the town of Krasnoarmeisk occurred hours after dozens of guardsmen shut down voting in a referendum on sovereignty for the region. An AP photographer who witnessed the shooting said two people were seen lying unmoving on the ground and insurgent leader Denis Pushilin was quoted by the ITAR-Tass news agency as saying there were an unspecified number of deaths.

Several hours earlier, guardsmen came to the town about 20 miles from the regional capital, Donetsk, and dispersed referendum voting that was taking place outside the town hall and they took control of the building. In the evening, more guardsmen arrived in a van and a scuffle broke out with people who were gathered around the building. Then the guardsmen fired shots. Click for more on the referendums. (More Donetsk stories.)