Arsen Borysovych Avakov

"At least 356 dead in Ukraine clashes so far"

MOSCOW -- At 365 persons, 257 of them civilians, have died since the beginning of military operations Ukrainian authorities launched in Lugansk and Donetsk.

RT.com quoted United Nations data to report that 14 children are among the dead.

Ukrainian government forces reclaimed the port city of Mariupol from pro-Russian separatists in heavy fighting on June 13 and said they had regained control of a long stretch of the border with Russia.

Ukrainian special forces will storm seized buildings and checkpoints set up by pro-Russian rebels on May 2, the country's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said Thursday.

Reports cited by RIA Novosti also reveal that Valentin Nalivaychenko, head of the special forces, will take the lead of the so-called "anti-terrorist" operation, which was previously assigned to Avakov.

Ukrainian forces have regained control of a government building in the eastern city of Mariupol.

The operation to drive out the pro-Russian demonstrators occupying the city hall building was staged overnight. They were successfully removed by government forces without any casualties or injuries, the BBC reports.

Russian FM accuses West of hypocrisy

MOSCOW -- The hypocrisy of Western countries in response to the the crisis in Ukraine is "off the scale," says Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Ukrainian security forces have detained 70 people in an "anti-terrorist" organization in Kharkiv, the country's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced Tuesday.

Activists have taken control over Ukrainian Security Service's headquarters in Donetsk and Luhansk.

Ukrainian police reported that "unknown people" had "seized weapons" after breaking into security headquarters in Luhansk, as they were quoted by the BBC.

Three people, including deputy head of the Kiev city state administration Bogdan Dubas, were wounded in a shooting incident in the Ukrainian capital downtown, Monday.

The shooter has been identified as an activist of the Right Sector far-right group, Ukrainian parliament-appointed Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said Monday, cited by Itar-Tass.

During an emergency session of parliament on Saturday, 314 out of 450 lawmakers voted to elect opposition leader Oleksandr Turchynov as Ukraine's acting prime minister.

In another sign of how the nation is changing power, parliament has appointed Arsen Avakov as Ukraine's acting interior minister.