local regional state administration. Also on 25 January, regional lawmakers in Lviv voted to establish a parallel government. Mykolayiv was occupied by Party of Regions members, with the interior barricaded; opposition leaders were not allowed to enter. 26 January A notable shift occurred in the country's east, with BBC News suggesting, "[U]nrest is spreading further into the country's east, which has traditionally had closer ties with Russia and is President Viktor Yanukovych's support base". Protesters in Zaporizhia threatened to seize the RSA, demanding the resignation of the governor. Governor Oleksandr Peklushenko emerged to announce that only "cowards and traitors" resign and vowed to retain his Party of Regions membership card "until the day I die" before disappearing back inside. (He indeed died in mysterious circumstances in March 2015). By 2 p.m., the crowd grew to 10,000 and attempted to storm the RSA against hundreds of police guarding the entrance; at least five protesters were injured as police violently dispersed the crowd using rubber bullets and batons, with the help of plain-clothed titushky wearing white armbands; over 200 were arrested. Up to 2,000 marched on the RSA in Odessa, but were repelled by pro-government supporters and municipal barricades. In Sumy, protesters occupied the city's council building with a Batkivshchyna MP taking leadership; elsewhere, a crackdown by police occurred on protesters in the city. The first floor of the Sumy RSA was occupied but police held the remainder in the standoff; the exter Activists in Chernihiv set up a barricade, fortifying the regional administration building. 500 protesters picketed the entrance to the Mykolayiv RSA; there was suspicion that titushky enforcements were stationed inside. 50 members of the right-wing group Right Sector attempted to seize the building, but were dissuaded by the peaceful protesters. 3,000 attempted to capture the RSA in Dnipropetrovsk and were met by over 200 police; 37 were arrested. The conflict led to instances of rioting, Titushky violently beat protesters, whom they hunted down in the streets; they also wore identifiable yellow arm bands. Dnipropetrovsk Governor Kolesnikov called the protesters 'extreme radical thugs from other regions'. There were also mass demonstrations in Kirovohrad but the RSA was guarded by a heavy police presence; the leaders of the local UDAR and Svoboda parties were raided and arrested in their homes. In Kremenchuk (Poltava Oblast), protesters attempted to seize the city council. Some 2,000 people gathered for a people's assembly in Cherkasy,