KIEV, May 12 – The major part of the population of Donbas does not support separatism and it is waiting for prompter actions by the authorities, expecting the state to take a principled position, and to take concrete steps to protect them, Mykhailo Volynets, chairman of the Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine, said in Kiev last week.

"On the one hand, people who are living there support the state system, and on the other hand, they want to hear guarantees from the central powers that they will be protected. We know that the major part of the population does not support separatist moods, but this major part has doubts. We should give a clear signal to them that we're with them. Separatists are doing everything for the population to say that Ukraine did not protect them [so that they] appeal to Putin," he said.