UN Security Council Calls Meeting to Discuss Escalating Ukraine Crisis

By Ayman Mohyeldin

The United Nations Security Council will meet in an emergency session Sunday evening to discuss the crisis in Ukraine, senior U.S. officials told NBC News.

The meeting is expected to take place at 8 p.m. ET at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.

The Ukrainian crisis escalated on Saturday when pro-Russian militants took control of government buildings in Slovyansk, eastern Ukraine.

In response, Ukraine launched what was termed an "anti-terrorist operation" in that city, urging residents to stay indoors in the expectation of clashes between pro-Russian separatists and government security forces.

Military helicopters were seen outside the besieged buildings on Sunday, and each side had reported deaths, but details of reported clashes were unclear.

Acting Ukraine President Oleksandr Turchynov appeared on state television late Sunday and offered amnesty to any rebels occupying state buildings who would lay down their weapons by Monday morning.

Turchynov said the Ukrainian Security Council decided to deploy the army because "we're not going to allow Russia to repeat the Crimean scenario in Ukraine's east."

Meanwhile, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych appeared on Russian television and called for an immediate referendum to "stop the civil war that has begun."

Yanukovych, who was ousted after bloody Kiev protests, said the American CIA was behind a decision by Ukraine to take military action. He claimed CIA chief John Brennan had met with Ukraine's new leadership and "in fact sanctioned the use of weapons and provoked bloodshed."

Jeff Black of NBC News and Reuters contributed to this report.

First published April 13 2014, 2:08 PM

Ayman Mohyeldin

Since joining NBC News in September 2011, Mohyeldin has reported on the Arab world, including Egypt, Libya, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Gaza and Lebanon. Inside Syria, Ayman traveled across the country reporting exclusively on the Syrian war, both with opposition rebels and government officials. He also has reported from Europe and across the U.S.

Prior to joining NBC, Mohyeldin was a correspondent for Al Jazeera English based in Cairo, where he was at the epicenter of Arab uprisings covering the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. From May 2008 until May 2010, Ayman was the only foreign broadcast journalist based in the Gaza Strip, a period in which he was the only American reporter covering the 2008-09 War on Gaza.

From 2003 to2006, he was based in Baghdad, covering the immediate aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the daily struggle of ordinary Iraqis and the Iraqi insurgency. Mohyeldin was among the few internation al journalists allowed to observe and report on the U.S. handover of Saddam Hussein to an Iraqi judge.

In 2011, Time Magazine named Mohyeldin as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.

Mohyeldin’s reporting has won a Peabody Award, the UK’s Cutting Edge Media Award and Argentina’s Perfil International Press Freedom Award. He also has received multiple Emmy nominations.

Mohyeldin was born in Cairo, Egypt and grew up in the U.S. and the Middle East.

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