(VOVworld) - All security structures in Kharkov, in eastern Ukraine, have been put on high alert and the number of patrols has doubled, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on Friday.

Pro-Russia forces and Ukrainian soldiers in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, January 22, 2015

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk instructed commander of the National Guard Oleksandr Krivenko to deploy forces on the streets to protect citizens. Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of launching a new attack against the pro-Russia forces in the self-proclaimed Republic of Donetsk. He accused Kiev of ignoring the ceasefire truce reached earlier in Berlin.