You're reading: SBU: Law enforcement will employ full arsenal if Donbas militants fail to disarm

 The Ukrainian Security Service's Anti-Terrorist Center has said that if illegal armed groups in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions do not surrender their weapons, law enforcement will use whatever means and possibilities available to restore order in the regions. "In accordance with the Geneva agreements, all illegal armed groups and certain individuals who have armed themselves illegally must stop and surrender weapons. Otherwise, law enforcement authorities will be using all forces, means and possibilities to discontinue criminal actions and restore the law and public safety," the security agency said in a statement posted on its website on April 23 evening.

 But instead of surrendering their weapons, the illegal groups on the contrary continue stepping up their criminal activity, the agency said.

“Contrary to the decision on amnesty, the perpetrators in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, who in reality are real criminals, continue killing people, holding administrative buildings, taking hostages and brutally torturing them,” the statement said.

The civilian population of the region is in a very serious moral and psychological condition, unable to live and work normally, they are frightened by the criminals and largely demoralized, the agency said.

“Children have no opportunity to go peacefully to schools and kindergartens, parents fear for their lives and future. The system of public of administration has become extremely complicated. Businesses are operating with disruptions. Such lawlessness poses a direct threat to the civilian population and the integrity of the state,” the statement said.

Civilians must refuse to support armed criminals, to shield them and to refuse to provide any help to criminals pursued by law enforcement, the Anti-Terrorist Center said.