Independence declared in eastern Ukraine regions
DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Pro-Russia insurgents in Ukraine’s Donetsk region declared independence Monday and asked to join Russia — a day after holding a hastily arranged vote on separatism that Ukraine’s government and its western allies said violated international law.
The Kremlin had no immediate response Monday to the annexation request, but issued a statement earlier in the day that urged Ukraine’s government in Kyiv to hold talks with the pro-Russia insurgents in the east.