-- 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."
Russian news agency Interfax is quoting Ukrianian presidential candidate Petro Poroshenko as saying he supports the security operation around Slovyansk on May 2.
"I very much hope that our blockade of Slovyansk will be effective," the agency quoted him as saying. "Finally the state has started to use the language of force with the terrorists."
Poroshenko reportedly made the comments at a press conference in Ivano-Frankivsk.
12:032.5.2014
Several media outlets reporting Ukrainian security forces have arrested four pro-Russia militants for allegedly shooting at Ukrainian military helicopters.
12:102.5.2014
RFE/RL's Russian Service has spoken to Natalya Mirza, press secretary for President Vladimir Putin's Ukraine envoy Vladimir Lukin. She said that "everything is fine" with Lukin, but refused to respond when asked if Lukin is currently in Ukraine's Donbas region.
Earlier, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists the Kremlin had been unable to contact Lukin since he was dispatched to Ukraine to help mediate the release of OSCE military observers being held by pro-Russian militants in Slovyansk.
Ukrainian authorities have said they have no information that a Russian delegation headed by Lukin has entered the country.
12:122.5.2014
A gallery of photos from today's operations around Slovyansk, published on the Ukraine liveblog of RFE/RL's Russian Service.
12:252.5.2014
The agency "Novosti Donbassa" is reporting that film crews for SkyNews and CBS are missing in the Slovyansk area. "Contact was lost with them after they headed toward Konstantinovka," the report says. Among the missing journalists are Clarissa Ward, Erin Lyall, Andy Srevenson, and Geoff Mabberley.
Earlier, there were reports on Twitter that BuzzFeed journalist Mike Giglio and his fixer were missing in the area.
12:322.5.2014
Reuters is reporting that Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, has commented on the May 2 events in Ukraine.
"We are following with growing concern the events in eastern Ukraine," Maja Kocijancic, a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, told reporters.
The EU called for an end to all "illegal actions" by armed separatist groups. "Occupied buildings need to be vacated, all persons illegally detained need to be released, including the OSCE military observers," she said.
12:362.5.2014
One more photo from the May Day parade in Moscow's Red Square. This one says: "Breakdown of Darwin's theory. A big-eared black monkey is trying to rule the world."
