(VOVworld) – Protestors occupying the city of Slavyansk in Eastern Ukraine have urged Russia to deploy its peace-keeping forces there, while imposing a curfew in the city after a gun fight that killed 3 militants and a gunman.

Men wearing military fatigues sit by a Russian flag and a white flag reading "People's volunteer corps of Donetsk" as they ride on an armoured personnel carrier in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk. (Photo: AFP)

The city’s protest leader Vyatcheslav Ponomarev said on Sunday that he had requested Russian President Vladimir Putin to consider sending peace keeping forces to protect civilians from “fascists”.
Hours earlier, unnamed gunmen fired at militants about 18km west of Slavyansk, forcing them to shoot back, despite Kiev’s announcement to halt its military campaign in eastern Ukraine during Easter holiday. Those gunmen ran away as militants strengthened their forces to the scene. This is the first violent incident recorded since the Geneva talks among the EU, Russia, the US, and Ukraine reached an agreement to defuse tension in Ukraine.