Ukraine orders 'anti-terror' operation to resume

DONETSK, Ukraine Ukraine's acting president ordered security forces to resume "anti-terror" operations in the country's east Tuesday after the bodies of two people allegedly abducted by pro-Russia insurgents were found and a military aircraft was reported to be hit by gunfire.

The twin developments -- which came just hours after U.S. Vice President Joe Biden left Kiev, the Ukrainian capital -- raised fears that last week's international agreement on easing Ukraine's crisis was failing.

The agreement calls for all sides to refrain from violence and for demonstrators to vacate public buildings. It does not specifically prohibit security operations, but Ukraine suspended its so-called "anti-terrorist operation" after the accord.

Pro-Russia insurgents who have seized police stations and other public buildings in eastern Ukraine are defying the call to vacate, saying they were not party to the agreement by Ukraine, Russia, the United States and the European Union.

In a statement, acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said the two bodies found Tuesday in Slovyansk bore signs of torture. One of them was a member of the city council and a member of Turchynov's party, he said.

Terrorists "are beginning to torture and kill Ukrainian patriots. They are impudently rejecting the calls of not only our country but of all the world's society when they demonstratively mock the decisions taken in Geneva," he said.

"These crimes are being done with the full support and connivance of Russia," Turchynov added.

The acting government, which took over after President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia in February, says Russia is behind the outbreak of unrest in eastern Ukraine with the possible aim of provoking violence that could be used as a pretext to invade. Last month, Russia annexed Crimea several weeks after seizing control of the peninsula.

The Defense Ministry said gunfire hit an observation plane over Slovyansk but the aircraft landed safely without injuries.

Standing alongside Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Biden called on Moscow to encourage pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine to vacate government buildings and checkpoints, accept amnesty and "address their grievances politically."

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Ukraine orders 'anti-terror' operation to resume

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