Pro-Russian separatists have seized back the city hall in the southern Ukrainian port of Mariupol, hours after being ousted by security forces.
Government forces first raised the Ukraine flag on the building but later left - allowing the rebels who captured it last week to be back in control.
Rebels have occupied official buildings in dozens of towns in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks.
The Kiev government has sent troops to restore its authority.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said government troops had taken over Mariupol city hall following a joint operation by ministry troops and the army early in the day.
Mr Avakov told the BBC that several people had been detained, including the defence minister of the separatist "Donetsk People's Republic", Igor Kakidzyanov.
End QuoteKiev is in effect calling Moscow's military bluff, bringing closer the moment when Russian President Vladimir Putin must decide whether or not to use overt military force"
The BBC's Richard Galpin in eastern Ukraine says Mariupol is an important city in an industrial heartland.
However rebels later regrouped, marched on the building, retook it and hoisted Donetsk People's Republic flags outside the building.
There were also reports of clashes in the separatist stronghold of Sloviansk, as Ukrainian troops advanced on rebel positions.
The Kiev government says 14 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and 66 wounded since the start of its operation in the east last month.
In related development on Wednesday:
- The government asked Ukraine's football league to hold remaining matches in the season without spectators and for those in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Odessa and Kharkiv regions to be moved to other areas
- Ukraine's central bank has received the first $3.19bn (£1.9bn; 2.3bn euros) tranche of a loan previously agreed with the IMF - part of an overall package of $17bn.
The government has rejected the pro-Russian activists' demands for greater autonomy for eastern regions, fearing they could lead to the break-up of the country.
Kiev has called a presidential election on 25 May, and said it was ready to back new international talks in Geneva, as long as Moscow supported the poll.
Meanwhile UK Foreign Secretary William Hague is meeting Ukrainian leaders in Kiev. Ahead of his visit he accused Russia of "deliberately fomenting" disorder.
"There is a great determination among Ukrainians to make a success of their elections... to show that this is a democracy that can work and succeed," he told the BBC on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov ruled out holding another round of international talks unless pro-Russian opposition groups were involved.
He added that there was no point attending as an accord agreed in April between the US, EU and Russia had not been implemented.
The Geneva agreement called for all parties, including the separatists, to refrain from violence, disarm and vacate occupied buildings.
The separatists of the Donetsk People's Republic and are preparing to hold an independence referendum on Sunday.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has condemned the plan as an "illegal effort to further divide Ukraine".
The 25 May election was called after pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown by pro-Western protesters in February.
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