Police and vigilantes join forces in Ukrainian city of Lviv
In the Western city of Lviv Ukranian media is reporting vigilantes and police have joined forces in a bid to restore law and order.
The move follows days of violence in the city, with many police reportedly refusing to wear their uniforms for fear of being attacked.
Lvivs Police Chief Oleksandr Rudiak confirmed his cooperation with activists.
The message is that we will cooperate with the regional council and activists in order to return calm to the citys streets and restore constitutional order, Rudiak said.
Describing themselves as the citys auto-defence, the groups leaders said they had no other choice other than to take control.
http://www.euronews.com/2014/02/20/police-and-vigilantes-join-forces-in-ukrainian-city-of-lviv/
It is doubtful whether Ukraine can be salvaged anymore. The western part, the old Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia, has broken away from central control.
Lviv, then called Lemberg, was predominantly Polish, Jewish, and German prior to WW I. The Polish population was diminished by the Polish-Ukrainian War of 1918-1919. The Jews died in the Holocaust, and what Germans were left were deported after WW II.
With the dissolution of the USSR, all the old nationalisms of the late '19th century central and eastern Europe have become active again.