Registering a cow for the separatist voting.
For Politico on the "Cossack People's Republic of Stakhanov":
A few doors down from the kitchen is the smoke-filled nerve center of Commander Pavel Dremov’s military operation. Dremov is a 37-year old former bricklayer who has emerged as the savior of Stakhanov, a hitherto-forgotten mining town in the northwest corner of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic. What is interesting is that the commander has styled himself in complete opposition to his fellow separatists in Luhansk and what he calls its “shady businessmen,” who deal “money, power, and ceasefires with the Kiev ‘junta.’” Dremov has offered Stakhanov citizens an alternative vision—a new, socialist, neo-Soviet “Cossack” republic that works for the people, especially the poor and elderly. And, as goes without saying, one that ignores any talk of a ceasefire deal.
Via our correspondent in Brussels, Rikard Jozwiak, here's EU Neighborhood and Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn speaking about yesterday's votes:
"From our point [of view] it is always about the integrity of the Ukrainian state, and in that respect, once again, we cannot accept this election; and it's always up to the political authorities to decide about how democratic decisions come together and here the Ukrainian government was crystal clear: They don't accept this election and therefore also not the outcome."
Paul Goble advocates extending NATO membership to Ukraine in a piece for The Interpreter titled "Putin’s Strategy in Ukraine -- Sow Panic, Provoke, Invade and Then Repeat the Process."
[T]hree steps are necessary immediately. First, Ukraine and the West must understand what Putin is doing and call it by its rightful names: invasion, Anschluss, provocation, intimidation, and panic-sowing. And both must understand that this is part of a single policy rather than a set of alternatives as some in both Kyiv and the West appear to want to believe.
Second, the West must declare formally a non-recognition policy relative to Crimea and the southeastern portions of Ukraine where Moscow forces are currently operating....
And third, it is long past time to be talking about whether NATO countries should be supplying Ukraine with weapons. They should have been sent at the time of the first Putin moves against Ukraine, and the flow of such weapons and related assistance should have been stepped up with each new Putin action.
In short, the time has come for the West to extend NATO membership to Ukraine, a country that has made the choice to be part of the West and that the West now acknowledges that reality. That alone will not solve the current crisis, but it will disrupt Putin’s strategy and cause both him and his supporters to realize that his approach won’t be tolerated any longer.
If that message isn’t delivered now, Putin will repeat his strategy not only in Ukraine but elsewhere as well.
Via AFP:
Poroshenko says Kyiv will react as separatists violated peace deal.
Reuters flash:
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT POROSHENKO CALLS MEETING OF SECURITY CHIEFS FOR TUESDAY TO DISCUSS CHANGING ACTION PLAN FOR HANDLING SEPARATIST REBELLION FOLLOWING REBEL VOTE - STATEMENT