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Aleksandr Malykhin, chairman of Luhansk's separatist election commission, announces results of the referendum in the Luhansk region on May 12.
Aleksandr Malykhin, chairman of Luhansk's separatist election commission, announces results of the referendum in the Luhansk region on May 12.

Live Blog: Crisis In Ukraine (Archive)

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-- Self-appointed leaders of the Ukrainian separatist region of Donetsk appealed to Russia to consider absorbing it to "restore historic justice" and to send in troops.

-- Pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk said they would not allow voting for the May 25 presidential election to be conducted.

-- Diplomats say the European Union agreed to impose sanctions against 13 additional individuals and two companies, believed to be the first time the EU has targeted companies over the Ukraine crisis.

-- Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov called the votes a "sham" and the United States said they were illegal and merely "an attempt to create further division and disorder in the country."

-- RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service said one of its affiliate radio stations in Donetsk was taken off the air by gunmen and replaced by a pro-Russian broadcaster.

-- The Kremlin said Ukrainian officials in Kyiv should hold talks with pro-Russian separatists on the results of the self-rule referendums, adding that it respected the "expression of the people's will."

-- Insurgents in eastern Ukraine said nearly 90 percent of voters backed self-rule in the votes.

*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv
18:18 4.5.2014
18:13 4.5.2014
Ukrayinska Pravda Online, citing the Donetsk-based website Ostrov, is reporting that four bound captives were delivered to the Donetsk Oblast administrative council headquarters.

It reports that the four captives, rumored to be pro-Ukrainian activists, arrived in a minibus that drove up to the square in front of the regional council building, which is controlled by separatists.

Gunmen who delivered the captives reportedly fired shots in the air to keep an assembled mob at bay and took the captives into the building.
18:03 4.5.2014
The "Kyiv Post" has reconstructed the deadly events of May 2 in Odesa, based on a journalist's eyewitness account.

An excerpt:
Young women and elderly people from the pro-Ukrainian rally began dismantling the pavement and passing the rocks to the frontline. Soon, other supporters brought gasoline and foam plastic, and young women began mixing Molotov cocktails right on Derybasivskaya Street.

Read on for the entire account, with photos and video links.
17:46 4.5.2014
17:21 4.5.2014
17:01 4.5.2014
16:57 4.5.2014
16:41 4.5.2014
16:24 4.5.2014


See for yourself in this (graphic) video footage of the fighting and apparent shooting.
16:19 4.5.2014
Here's RFE/RL's news desk's overview of the attack on a police station in Odesa:
Hundreds of pro-Russian activists attacked police headquarters in Odesa today, demanding the release of those detained over a fire and fighting in the southern Ukrainian port city on May 2 that left more than 40 people dead.

They forced a gate and broke windows at the police station as police officers tried to stop them from entering. Reports said police subsequently released several detainees.

Most of the victims on May 2 died in a blaze apparently started by firebombs thrown inside the building where pro-Russia activists had sought refuge amid the street fighting.

Police have arrested dozens of people over the violence.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk visited Odesa today and accused Russia of engineering the violence.

Yatsenyuk also blamed security forces for failing to prevent the violence and promised a full investigation.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said an "antiterrorist operation" was continuing in eastern cities under the control of pro-Russia forces.

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