Luhansk : The "town" that wants to become a "country"

Talk about big dreams!  2004 census has Luhansk being home to under half a million citizens.  Pic #2 shows Luhansk as the red dot on the Ukraine map.  

From BBC: 
Pro-Russia activists have stormed  several official buildings in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk.
They seized the regional government's headquarters and prosecutor's office before attacking the police station, reportedly with automatic rifles.
Interim President Olexander Turchynov criticised local police for their "inaction" and "criminal treachery".

Earlier, Russia criticised sanctions imposed by the US and EU over Moscow's alleged actions to destabilise Ukraine.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the US had "essentially lowered an 'Iron Curtain'" by targeting Russia's high-tech sector..........

..........A group of men armed with sticks and metal bars broke into the building, whose entrances were not protected by police. They then pulled down the Ukrainian flag flying from the roof and replaced it with a Russian one, and opened the main entrance to the crowd.

Inside the building's courtyard, they found security personnel in riot gear massed in a defensive position. There was a stand-off, but no violence........

.......Following the takeovers, Ukraine's interim President, Olexander Turchynov, demanded the dismissal of the police chiefs in Luhansk and the other eastern city of Donetsk.

"The overwhelming majority of law enforcement bodies in the east are incapable of fulfilling their duty to defend our citizens," he said.

Pro-Russia activists control much of the neighbouring Donetsk region.....