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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.
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Live Blog: Crisis In Ukraine (Archive)

Latest News

-- 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
19:10 28.4.2014

19:11 28.4.2014
Meanwhile, in the Baltic region...
About 150 U.S. troops have arrived in Estonia to take part in military exercises amid rising tensions with Russia over Ukraine.

Today's deployment brings to 600 the number of troops sent by Washington to Poland and the Baltic states to allay the concerns of eastern NATO allies over the escalating crisis.

Also today, Britain and France deployed eight fighter jets to reinforce NATO patrols over Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.

Four British Royal Air Force Typhoon fighters landed in Lithuania, while four French Rafale jets landed in northern Poland.

NATO announced this month that it would step up its defenses in Eastern Europe due to the growing crisis in Ukraine and Russia's annexation of Crimea.

19:27 28.4.2014
Some more details of the violence in Donetsk are now trickling out on the wires:
More than a dozen people have been reported wounded after pro-Russian separatists attacked a rally in support of Ukrainian unity in Donetsk today.

Media reports said dozens of men dressed in military fatigues and wielding baseball bats and iron bars attacked the rally of some 2,000 people.

Blasts were heard. City officials said that, according to preliminary information, at least 14 people were injured. Correspondents said many of the victims had head injuries.

Some reports said the assailants were shouting "Russia, Russia!" as they attacked the rally.

The demonstrators scattered after the violence broke out, with assailants reportedly chasing protesters down side streets after the rally dispersed. Reports said police attempted to hold the pro-Russia militants back but then largely stood aside as dozens of protesters were beaten.

Donetsk is one of string of cities in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russia separatists have seized government buildings.

19:32 28.4.2014

19:36 28.4.2014

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19:42 28.4.2014

19:43 28.4.2014

19:54 28.4.2014

20:10 28.4.2014
According to the news wires, it seems that the latest U.S. and EU sanctions are already having a knock-on effect:
The Standard & Poor's (S & P) ratings agency has cut the credit ratings of state-controlled Russian energy companies Rosneft and Gazprom to BBB- from BBB.

Today's S & P decision, downgrading the Russian companies to a notch above junk rating followed an earlier announcement from the United States that it was imposing new sanctions on Russian officials, including Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin.

Rosneft shares dropped more than 1 percent after the news was reported.

Sechin later dismissed the U.S. sanctions against him saying it would not harm his company's cooperation with foreign partners, including U.S. companies.

British energy group BP said today that it remained committed to its investment in Rosneft despite the sanctions.

The sanctions apply only to Sechin but analysts said the measures could hinder Rosneft's activities.

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