Ukraine vows to 'liquidate' pro-Russian rebels after body of 'brutally tortured' politician is found in river

• Ukraine ends Easter truce after two bodies found near town of Slaviansk
• One was Vladimir Rybak, a member of president's Batkivshchyna party
• President said councillor in town of Horlivka was abducted by 'terrorists'
• He and another man tortured and dumped in river to drown, say police
• U.S. journalist for Vice News captured by Pro-Russia militia in Slaviansk
  
• Former Moscow foreign minister warns Ukraine is 'powder keg' which will explode with 'catastrophic consequences'
  
• U.S. Vice President Joe Biden says Russia must act to defuse the unrest
• Pentagon sends 600 troops to Poland and three Baltic states for exercises
  

By SIMON TOMLINSON and WILL STEWART

PUBLISHED: 08:16 GMT, 23 April 2014 | UPDATED: 11:26 GMT, 23 April 2014

Ukraine today ended its Easter truce and vowed to 'liquidate' pro-Russian armed rebels which have grabbed control of key buildings across the east of the country. 

Kiev plans to renew its 'anti-terrorist operation' which began last week without scoring any major successes in dislodging the separatists. 

'Security agencies are working to liquidate all the groups currently operating in Kramatorsk, Slaviansk and the other towns in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions,' said Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Yarema today.

His declaration comes after two men, including a politician, were found ‘tortured to death’.

Meanwhile, former Moscow foreign minister Igor Ivanov warned that Ukraine is a 'powder keg' which will explode with 'grave if not catastrophic consequences'.

Kiev's first push failed last week to retake one of the towns in the mainly Russian-speaking east occupied by the separatists.

Its military has also largely suspended operations since the United States, Russia, Ukraine and European Union signed a deal in Geneva last week intended to calm the crisis.

But the agreement is already in trouble, with Washington and Moscow putting the onus on each other on Tuesday to ensure that it is implemented, including a stipulation that the rebels must disarm and leave the government buildings they have occupied.

In an appeal that may complicate European efforts to mediate the crisis, acting president Oleksander Turchinov said two 'brutally tortured' bodies had been found near Slaviansk, the objective of the failed Ukrainian army offensive.

One was that of Vladimir Rybak, a member of Turchinov's Batkivshchyna party, who had recently been abducted by 'terrorists', he said in a statement.

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