Kharkiv pro-Russian Mayor was shot
Gennady Kernes, who is the mayor of Kharkiv, spoke to journalists, on March 15 about unrest in the city amid pro-Russia protests.
The Kharkiv city council said the mayor of Ukraine's second largest city, which has largely managed to fend off the unrest that has engulfed other parts of the east, was shot today by gunmen and is clinging to life.
Mr. Gennady Kernes was "hit by a bullet in the back" during an attack by unknown gunmen, officials said. "He is being operated on. Doctors are fighting for his life".
Kharkiv pro-Russian Mayor Gennady Kernes, a one-time supporter of the ousted Ukrainian president, who has since taken a more conciliatory approach to the new government. Mr. Gennady was shot in the back, around noon local time, and was rushed to a hospital for surgery.
"Doctors are fighting for his life. He is now in the emergency room undergoing an operation", the council said in a statement on its website.
The statement offered no details about the circumstances of the shooting, but Zurab Alasania, the director general of Ukraine's state-run National Television Company, wrote on his Facebook page that Mr. Kernes was shot while swimming in a local spring near Kharkiv.
Kharkiv had been an early target at the beginning of a pro-Russian separatist movement, in which mobs seized government buildings in the east of the country, but authorities had been successful in forcing the protesters out, unlike in other cities.
Mr. Kernes, 54 years old, was elected mayor in 2010, narrowly defeating Arsen Avakov, who is now Interior Minister. Mr. Avakov and his allies claimed the vote was rigged, which Mr. Kernes denied.
Mr. Kernes was a staunch ally of former President Viktor Yanukovych. During the antigovernment protests this winter, Mr. Avakov alleged that Mr. Kernes helped recruit gangs of civilians that were sent to Kiev to attack protesters. He denies this.
When Mr. Yanukovych fled at the end of February, Mr. Kernes briefly left the country before returning and adopting a softer tone toward new authorities. In March, he was placed under house arrest while police investigate alleged connections to kidnapping and threats.
Militants hold at least 10 cities in the east as well as government buildings in several others. Ukraine has blamed Russia for fomenting the unrest, a charge Moscow has denied.
