Luhansk Protesters Deny Holding Hostages

Protesters Deny Holding Hostages
Pro-Russian activists gather in front of an entrance of the Ukrainian regional office of the Security Service in Luhansk, 30 kilometers (20 miles) west of the Russian border, in Ukraine, Tuesday, April 8, 2014. The Donetsk and Kharkiv regions and a third Russian-speaking city besieged by pro-Moscow activists over the weekend, Luhansk have a combined population of nearly 10 million out of Ukraine's 46 million, and account for the bulk of the country's industrial output. (AP Photo/Igor Golovniov)
Pro-Russian activists gather in front of an entrance of the Ukrainian regional office of the Security Service in Luhansk, 30 kilometers (20 miles) west of the Russian border, in Ukraine, Tuesday, April 8, 2014. The Donetsk and Kharkiv regions and a third Russian-speaking city besieged by pro-Moscow activists over the weekend, Luhansk have a combined population of nearly 10 million out of Ukraine's 46 million, and account for the bulk of the country's industrial output. (AP Photo/Igor Golovniov)

LUHANSK, Ukraine, April 8 (Reuters) - Protesters occupying the state security building in Luhansk, eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday denied a charge that they had wired the building with explosives and were holding people against their will.

"There are no explosives, no hostages. We do not need hostages to get what we want," said Anton, one of the protesters who described himself as a coordinator of the action.

Earlier Ukraine's state security service said the protesters were using weapons to hold about 60 people against their will. (Reporting by Thomas Grove; Writing By Richard Balmforth; Editing by Conor Humphries)

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