UKRAINE’S security service claimed on Saturday that it had detained a 15-strong armed gang which had been planning to seize power in the border province of Luhansk.

The Security Service of Ukraine said that it had seized 300 machine-guns, an anti-tank grenade launcher, a large number of grenades, five handguns and a range of petrol bombs.

It claimed that the group had intended to mount a grab for power in the province on April 10 by sowing panic among the local population.

Luhansk and neighbouring Russian-speaking eastern provinces have seen active calls for separation from Ukraine following February’s toppling of president Viktor Yanukovych.

Earlier in the week, a Russian TV station reported that 25 Ukrainian citizens had been arrested in Russia by the country’s security agency on suspicion of planning sabotage.

NTV television said on Thursday that those arrested had included three activists from neofascist group Right Sector.