The scenes were decidedly Russian. Flags with the country’s signature three horizontal stripes of white, blue and red. In the Russian town of Sverdlikovo, a Ukrainian soldier climbed onto another’s shoulders, broke off the wooden post anchored to a town council building and threw the Russian flag to the ground. In Daryino, a town five miles to the west, other soldiers also grabbed a Russian flag. “Just throw it away,” a Ukrainian soldier said, grinning, as another flexed his muscles.

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Persons: ” Organizations: Gazprom, The New York Times Locations: Russian, Sverdlikovo, Ukrainian