You're reading: Donetsk City Council declares itself sole lawful authority in the city

Under pressure from pro-Russian activists, the City Council of Donetsk on Saturday unanimously declared itself to be the sole legitimate authority in the city, according to the ZN.UA Web site.

“Until it becomes clear whether the laws passed by the Verkhovna Rada [parliament] are legitimate and the new bodies of state authority are recognized, the entire responsibility for the economic support of the territories shall be vested in bodies of local government,” the council said in a resolution.

The council also decided to set up a municipal police force “to ensure the peaceful existence of people on the territory of Donetsk and defense them against possible aggressive action on the part of radical nationalist forces.”

It declared Russian an official language along with Ukrainian and demanded that the Regional Council call a referendum on the future of Donbass.

It gave unanimous support to initiatives to officially consider Russia a strategic partner of Donbass and set up a joint stabilization fund with Luhansk.

The decisions were read out to about 5,000 activists holding Russian flags on the square in front of the council building and were met with cheers. A police cordon was removed from outside the council headquarters after everyone was evacuated from the building.

Donetsk’s population as of January 1, 2012 was about 955,000 people.