Breaking: Kiev launches Military Action in Eastern Ukraine

Wednesday, May 7 06:49 GMT:
Kiev loyalist forces have taken the city hall of Mariupol, its website reported. Construction workers are currently dismantling barricades previously erected by anti-government activists who were in control of the building.

The announcement comes after reports of heavy fighting overnight for Mariupol, which involved an estimated 1,000 Ukrainian government troops.

Tuesday, May 6
21:05 GMT:
An ‘internal factor’ was behind of the tragic events in Odessa on May 2, says the new Kiev-appointed head of the Odessa Regional State Administration Igor Palitsa.
“I am convinced that the enemy is within,” Palitsa was quoted by Itar-Tass as saying.

Palitsa, who replaced the Vladimir Nemirovsky as the head of Odessa, promised to punish those involved in Friday's tragedy, “regardless of political affiliation.” The new head also said that he is willing to meet with pro-federalization representatives.

“We must do everything to achieve peace in Odessa, and to prevent disruption of the elections. We need a legitimate president,” Palitsa said.

20:36 GMT:
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said the Ukrainian crisis is “getting worse and worse and deteriorating day by day,” as he gave his assessment while visiting South Sudan.

He said that diplomacy is the way forward as he called on four parties of the April 17 Geneva agreement to take measures at deescalating the conflict.

He said that Ukraine, Russia, the United States and the European Union should “review what had gone wrong" with Geneva Agreement and why this has not been implemented.

“This is their political responsibility before this situation would just develop into a stage where nobody can control – beyond control. This will have serious regional and global implications in peace, security and economy. It has become geo-political and geo-economic issues,” Ban added.

19:54 GMT:
Kharkov officials have canceled annual display of original World War II equipment and vehicles on May 9. The military parade to celebrate Victory Day takes place on Freedom Square. Speaking of the reasons behind the decision, Governor Igor Baluta cited safety issues as, he said, officials have received numerous “signals of possible provocations”.

Aside from that, the cancellation of military parade was a demanded by anti-Maidan protesters, who claimed that armed forces from Western Ukraine, which “are now shooting at peaceful people in Donbas”would take part in the event.

19:33 GMT:
A toxic agent was used in an attack on the Trade Unions House in Odessa on May 2, which saw 46 people dead and another 214 injured, Pyotr Poroshenko, MP and Ukraine presidential candidate, said.

Therefore the tragic events in Odessa may be classified as a terrorist attack, he told Interfax news agency after a closed session of the Ukrainian parliament at which the evidence was presented.

19:32 GMT:
An armed stand-off occurred outside a military building in Donetsk after anti-Kiev militia members arrived for negotiations with representative of the Ukrainian military, Tuesday. They had traveled to the building to hold negotiations with officials there regarding the protection of the building, as it contains weapons, Ruptly reports. The discussions were unsuccessful.

18:59 GMT:
There’ll be more sanctions put forward against Russia if its troops cross the border to“destabilize” the Ukrainian election on May 25, Victoria Nuland, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, warned.

However, she stressed the doors for a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis aren’t yet shut, Interfax news agency reports.
18:33 GMT:
The self-defense forces in Donetsk Region’s Mariupol say Ukrainian forces might have started storming the city.

“Just now we began receiving reports of a massive attack on our checkpoints located in the west of the city. There’s no information on casualties yet. Apparently, the assault has begun,” Mikhail Krutko from self-defense forces staff told Interfax news agency.

“Our forces have accepted battle. The gun fight is underway,” he added.

16:50 GMT:
Russia said that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, agreed on Tuesday that it was important to promote dialogue to defuse the Ukraine crisis.

Lavrov and Steinmeier, meeting on the sidelines of a Council of Europe session in Vienna, underscored "the need to continue joint efforts by Russia, the United States, the EU and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to foster the start of a Ukraine-wide national dialogue in the interests of resolving all existing problems," the Foreign Ministry said. (Reuters)

16:41 GMT:
Days after Friday's vicious street clashes and the fire, people in Odessa are living in fear the violence will return, RT's Irina Galushko reports.

16:08 GMT:
A group of 20 people have set a radar station in Lugansk region on fire, the prosecutor general’s office says on its website. The radar station was located on a territory of one of military bases. According to the statement, at around 04:00 am unknown men attacked security, took away their weapons and set the station on fire.

16:08 GMT:
Over 60 schools and 59 kindergartens have stopped work for one day in the city of Donbas in Donetsk region. It is still unclear if the halt will be prolonged.

16:08 GMT:
Footage posted online reveals that Ukrainian tanks and armored vehicles have been stationed en masse around the Donetsk region city of Slavyansk.

15:42 GMT:
The Ukrainian parliament has passed a draft law during a closed session which would confer the status of war veterans on current members of the armed forces participating in special operations in the east of the country, RIA Novosti reports.

The draft law on the status of combatants, initiated by the Cabinet, would apply to the National Guard of Ukraine, the Security Service, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, the State Border Service, servicemen, and other military formations formed under the law.

15:41 GMT:
The cities of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk are in desperate need of medical supplies to assist those wounded in ongoing military operations, David-Pierre Marquet, press secretary for the International Red Cross (ICRC) in Europe and Central Asia, told Itar-Tass news agency. According to Marquet, the ICRC distributed basic drugs and medical supplies throughout the cities.

14:13 GMT:
Eight people have been killed and 16 injured in a military operation in Slavyansk, RIA Novosti reports, citing the Donetsk region health department. Those with gunshot wounds were hospitalized in a critical and serious condition.

14:02 GMT:
Kiev’s district administrative court has ordered a comprehensive “linguistic” examination of Russian TV programs. Experts will check if the programs contain calls for the violent overthrow of power in Ukraine, propaganda in favor of war or aggressive actions, and methods used to psychologically influence viewers.

13:58 GMT:
The Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) will not hold a national referendum on federalization on May 25, after only 154 deputies voted for it, short of the required 226 majority required. Speaking to RBK-Ukraine, presidential administration representative Andrey Senchenko cited the military operation in eastern Ukraine and the “safety of members of electoral commissions” as one of the reasons behind the decision.

Thought this worth listening to .. Remember the Black opps taking Ukrain's gold . here is some explanation of that .I seems one of the Ukraine is buying with the IMF loan is gold

12:13 GMT:
At least 14 Ukrainian servicemen have been killed and 66 injured since the beginning of the military operation in Eastern Ukraine. The numbers were given as of late May 6 by the Ukrainian information agency UNIAN, based on security service data.

12:03 GMT:
Activists in the southeastern city of Slavyansk are prepared to face an army offensive at any time, day or night. The threat has driven women to take up arms to protect their children and their future. Every night they join their men at one of the checkpoints.

“I'm ready to fight them with my bare hands,” a woman named Lena told RT’s Paula Slier. She is a mother of two teenage boys, who are every night left to wait nervously at home, not knowing if their parents will return.

11:26 GMT:
A group of journalists with the channel Lifenews has come under fire from an RPG in the vicinity of Slavyansk, it was reported on the news channel. The TV report said that the incident took place during a live broadcast.

Shortly before that, reporter Aleksey Kazannikov said that the Ukrainian army has masked a couple of Grad rocket weapons systems. Latest reports indicate that Kazannikov and his cameraman Aleksandr Matveev are hiding out in the woods nearby.

This is not the first such instance.

11:18 GMT:
The European Union is open to holding more talks with Ukraine, Russia and the United States to try to defuse the crisis in Ukraine, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said on Wednesday.

"What we are doing is keep(ing) open the track of negotiations and dialogue. We are even open to the idea of a second Geneva meeting. We are open to this idea and will work with colleagues on the possibility of it," Van Rompuy told a news conference with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (Reuters)

10:44 GMT:
People bury Irina Boyevetz in Slavyansk. 2 days ago, the 30-year-old woman was shot in the head by sniper fire while standing on her balcony.

10:35 GMT:
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday called on Kiev to immediately stop "the use of force against its own people".

"The illegitimate authorities in Kiev go on crudely trampling on widely-recognised rights, with the connivance of their Western patrons," the ministry also said in a statement.

Wednesday, May 7

19:29 GMT:
The White House has withdrawn Russia from the US Generalized System of preferences (GPS) trade benefits program, its press-office said in a statement. GPS is a program designed to promote economic growth in the developing countries by providing preferential duty-free entry for up to 5,000 products when imported from one of 123 designated beneficiary countries and territories.

18:47 GMT:
Ukraine presidential candidate Pyotr Poroshenko (UDAR Party) has welcomed President Vladimir Putin’s statements, saying that the situation significantly improved following the news from Moscow.

“We have an appeal to stop an illegal referendum, Russia accepting presidential elections. I think this is great news for stabilizing the situation in eastern Ukraine,” Poroshenko told reporters in Berlin.

17:58 GMT:
The situation in Donetsk region has stabilized after President Vladimir Putin’s speech in Moscow, a self-defense unit’s representative told Interfax. No shooting has been heard in the city of Slavyansk. The situation remains calm in Mariupol, where anti-Kiev protesters regained control of the city council.

17:57 GMT:
Kiev has prepared its own “roadmap” to solve the political crisis in Ukraine, Interfax news agency reports citing the coup-imposed Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk. He said that the plan has been worked out by country’s acting Foreign Minister Andrey Deschitsa.

Yatsenyuk expressed bewilderment over discussions on resolving the Ukrainian conflict being held between Moscow and OSCE without representatives from Kiev. He still said he hopes the OSCE, which also came up with its roadmap, will accept Kiev’s plan of actions.

17:13 GMT:
Reuters reports, NATO has said it has “no indication of a change in the position of military forces along the Ukraine border” despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement.

“We have been told that our troops on the Ukrainian border are a concern – we have withdrawn them. They are now not on Ukrainian territory, but at locations where they conduct regular drills at ranges,” Putin said at a press conference with OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss President Didier Burkhalter in Moscow.

16:37 GMT:
The Pentagon is shipping new aid to Ukraine, which comes in the form of walkie-talkies, binoculars, fuel pumps, spare tires and barbed wire, USA Today reports citing Army Col. Steve Warren.

16:37 GMT:
Anti-government activists in the Donetsk region exchanged three previously detained Ukrainian Security Service members for one of their leaders Pavel Gubarev.

Gubarev was proclaimed "the people's governor" of Donetsk on March 1 and was later arrested by the Ukrainian Security Service. Together with him, several other anti-government activists have been freed.

16:28 GMT:
The EU has established a preliminary agreement on possible further Russian sanctions. The potential additional measures could be approved as early as Monday during a meeting of EU foreign ministers. “We have political approval, and it will have to be rubber-stamped,” one diplomat told Reuters, on conditions of anonymity. A further two officials stated that specific names were to be discussed on Wednesday. Extended sanctions are likely to enable the EU to target Russian companies.

13:42 GMT:
British Foreign Secretary William Hague announced on a visit to Ukraine on Wednesday that further sanctions on Russia were being prepared. Hague stated that a “third tier” was being devised. “We will be ready to impose those if necessary,” Hague told a news conference in Kiev. However he did not clarify at which point they would be imposed, and stated that “we will not say they will only be imposed if there is a military invasion of Ukraine.” Hague added that a specific “red line” was not being set in regard to the point at which sanctions would be imposed, as its setting would mean that all other actions up to the red line could be taken.

Hague said that while the UK was not providing direct military assistance to the Kiev government, it was contributing in other ways, such as with “technical know-how.” “Financial management… areas of government… that is the sort of help we give,” he said. He added that the UK would be supplying a “big proportion” of the election monitors for Ukraine’s presidential election on May 25.

12:15 GMT:
Vladimir Putin suggested to OSCE chairman Didier Burkhalter that the Ukrainian situation should be "analyzed and means to overcome the crisis be found."

The two leaders spoke today in the Kremlin, and the Russian president has said that this meeting with the Swiss President and Foreign Minister is very well timed.

Burkhalter currently chairs the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the Ukrainian crisis was among the meeting's highlights.
Putin has said that it's known where Russia stands in the situation.

The Russian leader has also pointed that according to his previous discussions with the Swiss politician, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office has his suggestions and ideas on how to resolve the situation.

Burkhalter commented that possibility of a dialogue is very important.

Thursday, May 8
08:37 GMT:
The military operation in the south-east of Ukraine will continue, regardless of the decision made on the Donetsk regional referendum on May 11, Kiev has said.

08:27 GMT:
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry has reported that two anti-government protesters’ cars have been destroyed overnight in the southeast of the country.

“Last night the sixth checkpoint of the anti-terrorist operation units has been attacked … The units then opened retaliatory fire which destroyed two cars [of protesters],” the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry did not specify in which region or city the cars were destroyed.

07:34 GMT:
Russia's Foreign Ministry suggested NATO's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen was "blind" after he wrote he had seen no signs Russia is withdrawing troops from Ukraine's border, Itar-Tass reported on Thursday.

Rasmussen's statement, posted on his Twitter microblog, directly contradicted a statement by President Vladimir Putin made earlier in the day.

"We suggest that the blind familiarise themselves with the May 7 statement of the President," Itar-Tass reported the Foreign Ministry as saying.

00:32 GMT:
There are reports that the ultra-nationalist Right Sector has fired at the prosecutor's office in Severodonetsk in Lugansk region, UNIAN news agency reported, citing the head of the Center for Military-Political Studies Dmitry Timchuck.

The head of the NGO states that according to his sources on the ground in Severodonetsk the prosecutor's office was attacked by “more than 100” people who identified themselves to be from the Right Sector.

Thursday, May 8

14:57 GMT:

Kharkov City Council’s executive committee has asked residents to avoid getting involved in any political actions on Victory Day. Due to the current situation in the region, it has warned people of possible provocations from various political forces “who are ready to use even such a sacred day to reach their instantaneous political goals,” an announcement on the city's website says, reminding locals of the sacrifice of millions of Soviet people in WW2 and the need to respect and honor both those who died in the conflict and those still living who survived the war. Earlier, Kharkov’s mayor promised residents they would be able to enjoy Victory Day celebrations after"Ukraine calms down."

13:47 GMT:
One person was killed after the shooting that took place near a checkpoint in the Lugansk region in eastern Ukraine, local police told RIA Novosti. Two people were injured in the attack.

13:26 GMT:
Ukrainian troops have taken control of the city council in the eastern city of Mariupol, Donetsk Region, a representative of the self-defence forces said. One person has been injured during the seizure.

“People in black camouflage have taken control of the city council building… they aren’t letting anyone in,” he said.

13:09 GMT:
A checkpoint manned by anti-government protesters in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk has been targeted by mortars, a representative from the local self-defence forces told RIA Novosti.

On Wednesday, the checkpoint was attacked and one person was injured.

13:08 GMT:
Russia has received a proposed roadmap from the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) to resolve Ukraine’s crisis, said President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.

“Now we need time to study it thoroughly,” he said.

On Wednesday, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss President Didier Burkhalter said the organization will offer a roadmap to defuse tensions in Ukraine.

12:57 GMT:
Ukrainian presidential candidate Sergey Tigipko has condemned the use of force by Kiev authorities against southeast Ukrainian regions.

“My position is clear – peace at any price… saber rattling will not help anyone... the conflict should end in peaceful negotiations,” he said.

He also recommended Kiev authorities to consider the proposal of Vladimir Putin who urged an end to Kiev’s military operation.

“Since we have a positive reaction on Ukraine’s presidential elections and a proposal to postpone a referendum [in Donetsk and Lugansk regions], we need to catch it,” he said. “We don’t have a strong position now.”

Tigipko also called upon Kiev authorities to amnesty all the participants of the protests in the southeast of the country.

“Yes, there are some lawbreakers who committed serious crimes, but the majority are peaceful civilians who can be amnestied,” he added, “The main issue is to stabilize the situation.”

12:17 GMT:
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has welcomed Vladimir Putin's"constructive tone" on Ukraine, after the Russian president suggested that the anti-government protesters in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in the east of the country consider postponing their federalization referendums on May 11.

"I welcome the constructive tone that President Putin used after his meeting with the OSCE President Didier Burkhalter," Steinmeier said, adding that "what was discussed in Moscow" should be implemented immediately.

"The situation is critical, but there is still a chance that we can avoid a fresh escalation of violence and the total loss of control in eastern Ukraine by diplomatic means," he added.

12:05 GMT:
The Kremlin will analyze the situation on eastern Ukraine’s refusal to postpone the referendum, said President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.

He added that Kremlin hasn’t yet received any proposals from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Ukraine’s crisis.

12:00 GMT:
Ukrainian troops are trying to take the City Council building in Mariupol in the Donetsk region by storm. According to the press service of the proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, the anti-government activists are making efforts to stand their ground by putting barricades of car tires on fire, Itar-Tass agency reports.

09:31 GMT:
Ukrainian coup-imposed Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has promised to give local councils the right to grant official status to the Russian language, along with other languages.

“The Ukrainian government also proposed legislation to hold an overall Ukrainian… referendum scheduled May 25. We wanted to know people’s opinions on the country’s integrity, its polity” he said, “Unfortunately, the parliament hasn’t supported us yet.”

19:47 GMT:
An initiative to organise "round tables of the national unity" has been announced by the coup-installed Kiev officials. According to Itar-Tass, the acting president Aleksandr Turchinov and the interim Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk want to use the OSCE experience in the dialogue. Such issues as decentralization of political power, reforms in local government, court system and law enforcement, as well as protection of minorities are planned to be raised. Turchinov and Yatsenyuk say they invite all political forces from all regions to join their initiative. At the same time, they say there are no plans to stop the military operation in the south-east of Ukraine.

16:18 GMT:
2,000 police officers will patrol the streets of Odessa on May 9. The civil forces will do their best to prevent any incidents on Victory Day, its representative in the Odessa region has told Interfax-Ukraine agency. On May 2, dozens of people were killed and hundreds injured in mass clashes in Odessa. Several people including senior officials of Odessa's militia have been arrested as part of the investigation.

15:55 GMT:
Russia has reacted to sanctions against its citizens applied by the US and Canada. A comment by Aleksandr Lukashevich, an official representative of Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was published on its official website. "Sanctions are not our approach, but unfriendly actions force us to fight back," Lukashevich said. Names of those who fall under Russia's sanctions will not be published. According to the official, those on the list will learn about it when they apply for a visa.

Friday, May 9

08:09 GMT:
With a mixed feeling of joy and grief, young and old are flooding the streets all across Russia and former Soviet states to commemorate those millions who sacrificed their lives to stop the Nazi horde 69 years ago.

Thursday, May 8

23:08 GMT:
The US State Department has supported the idea of “roundtables”, proposed by Kiev, as a means of defusing tensions in Ukraine, with deputy spokesperson Marie Harf telling foreign journalists at a briefing she hopes such discussions will help Ukrainians decide their own future, Itar-tass reports.

21:13 GMT:
Russian Foreign Ministry says that Kiev's reaction to the roadmap proposed by OSCE and Moscow bluntly contradicts the agreement reached in Geneva.

“Such a position is in direct conflict with the fundamental principle of the Geneva Declaration, which begins with the requirements of the termination of any use of force,” the ministry said.

Furthermore Kiev's “unwillingness to listen to the international community” is undermining the efforts of the OSCE, because it is unlikely protesters in the south-east of Ukraine will “cooperate with the regime which declared them all terrorists and sent an army against them,” the statement reads.

Link not allowed, sorry. Pity really, as it offered an alternative view to President Putin's apparent change of stance.
Will compile something shortly to get the point over.

Are we to believe that President Putin is tossing aside a valuable bargaining chip by suggesting that the people of the Donbass postpone the referendum? Even more, his apparent backing for the presidential elections on the 25th May?
There is a well known psychology experiment where you put two rats inside a cage and you start giving them electrical shocks (through a grid on the floor) You know what they do? They immediately attack each other. Pain makes them do that and they strike out at the only enemy they see.
If a suitable president is elected on the 25th, fully backed by the USA and Europe. what happens next? The economy is completely dead and nobody knows exactly what to do about it. The degree of hatred between the western Banderastan and the eastern Donbass is at an all time high and nobody knows how to make these people coexist together. Social unrest will be triggered by economic collapse, will go from bad to worse with each passing week. Add to that the fact that Ukraine desperately needs Russian energy that they are unable or unwilling to pay for. Just imagine the utter chaos which will take place over the summer all over Ukraine.
Is Putin not only choosing the "no intervention" option but rather actively contributing to that outcome? Has he intentionally given the USA the opportunity to declare Russia a "paper tiger" and declare victory for Obama? Is it a case of let them gloat today as it will just make their inevitable fall tomorrow more painful?
In chess, this is called a "gambit" You accept the loss of a piece to gain an advantage. Is this not what was done in Syria? Putin recommended that all Syrian chemical weapons be destroyed which enabled him to divert an attack by the west. Yet, 8 months later, it must be said that Syria is winning the war.

Mariupol today

Graphic video

Graphic video

far out that's graphic.. sure that's allowed here?

Wonder if Putin is in the mood to do one of his little sit down TV interviews.. ask him straight up why Russians are entering Ukraine to fight Ukrainians?..

Just ran across this.....from today.

Ukrainian town of Mariupol. WARNING....Extremely graphic, at times.....(and not like the last "graphic" video posted)

Good comment ....Putin is playing this situation the way he should .If it would have been me I would have gone in after the fire and the slaughter that happened .But then I am not a good chess player .It would seem that all Washington can do is try and provoke hoping that Putin will have a calculated move . He is playing this in a way that must have the west pulling their hair out ....Here is a good commentary discussion from RT cross-talk YdFyWgM_TAE a reply to: scotland48

Your vid is not working ..... a reply to: Jakal26

a reply to: the2ofusr1

Yeah....well....
Youtube decided the content was "shocking and disgusting" and since we are all children we have no right to see such horrible things that are not sanctioned by those who wish to instill fear in us.

The video was shot by protestors in Mariupol. It shows was are said to be Ukrainian soldiers firing on unarmed protestors. 5 or 6 people shot, one directly between the eyes (the reason for the "shock and disgust" label from youtube....it was very graphic)

Anyways....maybe it was uploaded to liveleak as well....may go try to find it.
I'm actually surprised it hadn't showed up here on ATS yet.....however, the video only had about 1000 views when I posted it so it must have been taken down fairly quick.

ETA.....Ok...I found it. It is the same area but the person that filmed it is not the same. I say same area because of the guy laying dead from a head wound. Multiple people filming and obviously it was uploaded by multiple people as well. Anyways...

(I can't seem to get the thing to embed and actually play.....Just going to try the link itself, I'm tired of messing with it and have things to do)

www.liveleak.com...

Update from Mariupol.

Police chief had ordered his police to shoot protesters. They refused. National Guard units showed up and assaulted the police forces with APCs and RPGs. Many other civilians shot as well.

And in the meantime, the White House is still blaming the Russians for the violence.

11:31 GMT:
The people’s governor of the Donetsk region, Pavel Gubarev, told journalists that Donetsk and Lugansk will emerge as new legal entities as a result of the referendum.

“The referendum for us is about creating a new state paradigm,” he said.

11:10 GMT:
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry says the results of the referendum in Donetsk and Lugansk regions won’t affect the country’s territorial integrity and form of government.

“Organizers of this criminal farce have consciously violated the Ukrainian constitution and laws, and have neglected calls coming from the authorities in Ukraine and from the international community,” the ministry’s statement reads.

10:38 GMT:
A man fired several gunshots at the ceiling in a polling station in Donetsk, according to the head of the Central Election Commission of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic,” Roman Lyagin, RIA Novosti reports. Lyagin said the gun was a traumatic one and the man was quickly detained.

10:25 GMT:
The death toll from Odessa’s May 2 riots has risen to 47, after 34-year-old Evgeny Losinsky, who was shot in the stomach, died in the hospital, Itar-Tass reports.

10:15 GMT:
The referendum turnout in the Lugansk region has already reached 65 percent, according to the chairman of the local referendum committee, Aleksandr Malykhin, RIA Novosti reported.

09:32 GMT:
Kiev’s military operation in the Donetsk region towns of Krasny Liman, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk has entered its final stage, according to the acting head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, Sergey Pashinsky, Interfax reported. Pashinsky said “a lot of separatists have been eliminated during the operation,” but did not provide any figures.

09:30 GMT:
People flocked to a polling station in Ukraine's Mariupol Sunday morning, as several locations across the city did not open fearing violence. Citizens of the two southeastern regions of Ukraine are being asked if they "support the Act of state self-rule" of Donetsk People's Republic or Lugansk People's Republic.

www.nytimes.com...

The United States and European nations say they have no intention of recognizing the ad hoc vote, no matter the results, calling it illegal and likely only to worsen the lethal violence in Ukraine’s east.

You can only vote if it looks like you are going to be voting for our puppets or so the USA thinks and locking people inside a building and setting it on fire is only a problem if we say so.

DONETSK, Ukraine — A steady stream of voters turned out at some polling stations Sunday for snap elections intended to legitimize two self-declared new countries in eastern Ukraine, a showing that will aid the secessionist cause.

The turnout in the capital was no guarantee people in towns elsewhere would also show support for the separatists, and even in Donetsk many who favored Ukrainian unity said they would stay home rather than vote.

The neo-nazi's will be getting paid double time today to keep people at home but you won't here anyone of the EU Puppets calling that a fix vote will you now.

Some of our media are saying it's terrorists that are being killed well I hope that includes policemen because some off them got killed too but lets go back to playing with words, spin and this Russia invasion that never happend if you like.

a reply to: the2ofusr1

CNN/BBC will have recorded it's view on the election weeks ago and won't say a word about a lot of people were in too much fear to go and vote but what do you expect with the hog wash we get from our state media, truth or something, you must be joking.