Protesters storm police HQ in Ukraine’s Horlivka

Pro-Russia protesters have stormed a police headquarters in Ukraine’s eastern town of Horlivka in defiance of the government’s ultimatum to leave the occupied buildings in the region.

According to reports, at least 100 demonstrators raided the police station in Horlivka, situated in the Ukrainian Donetsk region, on Monday.

Ukrainian TV footage showed an ambulance was treating those injured in the incident.

The city’s police have now defected to the people, pledging their allegiance to the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk.

The situation is escalating in eastern Ukraine amid concerns over an impending military action by Kiev against pro-Russian activists.

The Ukrainian government had given the protesters until Monday morning to lay down their arms and evacuate the occupied buildings in the country’s eastern provinces.

However, reports coming out of the restive regions suggest that the demonstrators are not showing any signs of compliance with the deadline.

The eastern cities are now bracing for military action because Kiev has threatened to launch an “anti-terrorism operation” to end the ongoing protests.

Activists have seized control of state buildings in a number of towns and cities, including Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Slavyansk and Mikolayev.

Pro-Russia rallies gained momentum in Ukraine after Crimea declared independence from the former Soviet state and formally applied to become part of the Russian Federation following a referendum on March 16, in which nearly 97 percent of the participants voted for joining Russia, with a turnout of more than 83 percent.