(VOVworld) -  The Ukrainian Security and National Defense Council on Sunday announced that it will expand its “counter-terrorism” campaign aimed at anti-government and pro-federalisation protesters.

Demonstrators wave revolutionary flags at a major pro-Russia rally in Lenin Square in central Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. (Photo: CNN)

The announcement came after bloody clashes in Odessa, South Ukraine, killed 46 people and injured nearly 200. On Friday, Ukrainian commandos launched the second stage of a counter-terrorism campaign in eastern Ukraine, including the city of Slavyansk, which is controlled by anti-government protesters. In the city of Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, government forces regained control of a television tower from protesters.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made a telephone call to US Secretary of State John Kerry, to ask the US to put pressure on Ukraine to halt its military campaign.