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A curfew has been announced in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slaviansk after a group of unknown gunmen launched a deadly attack on a checkpoint near the city early Sunday as people were celebrating Easter, RIA Novosti reported.

Before the incident, unknown attackers opened fire in downtown Slaviank, injuring two local citizens. Both of them are in a satisfactory condition, doctors at the central city hospital said.

The leader of self-defense forces, Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, known as “acting Slaviansk mayor,” said the attack came in violation of the cease-fire announced ahead of Easter celebrations across Ukraine on Sunday and called on Russia to send its peacekeepers to the region.

Ukraine’s Interior Ministry confirmed that three people, including two local citizens, were killed and three others were injured in the overnight shootout. Two of the injured received medical aid and refused to be admitted to hospital.

The attackers, estimated by the ministry at around 12, fled the crime scene and headed to the neighboring Kharkiv region, taking the injured and killed people with them.

Shells and foreign-made explosives, a map of Slaviansk, as well as insignia of the Ukrainian far-right movement Right Sector were reportedly found at the scene of the attack.

Self-defense forces have announced a mobilization as situation remains tense in the city.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has condemned the attack as “provocation” saying it shows Kiev’s reluctance to disarm nationalists and extremists.