Russia Calls for Emergency UN Security Council Meeting As Ukraine Violence Escalates To Brink Of Civil War

Amidst the escalating violence in eastern Ukraine, Russia has called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting on the crisis, which is pitting pro-Russia militias against the Ukrainian army and civilians who support a united Ukraine. A spokesman for Russia's permanent mission at the United Nations told Russian government-owned ITAR-TASS News Agency on Friday that Ukrainian special forces have started what he called a "punitive operation" in the city of Slovyansk in eastern Ukraine.