Ukraine PM Blames 'Inefficient' Security Service for Odessa Violence

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has accused the local security service of failing to prevent the violence in Odessa that left more than 40 people dead.

Over 40 people died on Friday in the Black Sea port, most of them in a fire at the Trade Unions House, where pro-Russian activists had barricaded themselves following battles with pro-Kiev forces.

In a Sunday interview for the BBC News, Yatsenyuk blamed the security service and law enforcement office for doing nothing to stop the crackdown, adding that the unrest had been provoked by pro-Russian groups.

Ukraine's Prime Minister described the security service in Odessa as inefficient, stressing that it had violated the law.

Yatsenyuk made clear that the police chief of the Odessa region had been removed and that the prosecutor's office had started a comprehensive investigation which would include "the chief of police, his deputies and every single police officer."

He vowed a detailed independent probe into the violence.

Yatsenyuk insisted that Russia was orchestrating "a real war" aimed at eliminating Ukraine and Ukraine's independence.

Asked about the counter-terrorism operation against separatist movements in the country's eastern regions, he noted that the authority had not entirely lost control there, adding that the developments in the region depended to a large extent on the local population, which had to decide whether they supported peace and security.

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