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)

May 12, 2014 06:30 CET

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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

15:12 8.5.2014

Passed through Moscow. St George ribbons all over the place. Lack of accompanying balaclavas and assault rifles slightly disorientating.
— Roland Oliphant (@RolandOliphant) May 8, 2014

15:13 8.5.2014

#Russia just received roadmap on the settlement of the crisis in #Ukraine from the @OSCE.#Putin's spokesman says it's gonna be "studied" now
— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 8, 2014

15:54 8.5.2014

I sense some megalomania issues here. No? Inside Putin's military command center http://t.co/JKsfvJe5gb pic.twitter.com/VbA4ZjYgiI
— Maxim Eristavi (@MaximEristavi) May 8, 2014

16:28 8.5.2014

Russia back to calling Ukraine's May 25 election "senseless" (unless military operations halted in east of country): http://t.co/v871yLz8td
— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) May 8, 2014

17:35 8.5.2014

Russia announcing more sanctions against Canada and the US right now...
— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) May 8, 2014

Moscow expanding list of Canadians and Americans barred from Russia, but will not release new list of names.
— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) May 8, 2014

17:35 8.5.2014

In "Victory Day" address, #Ukraine PM @Yatsenyuk_AP says, "For the first time since 1941 the enemy has crossed the borders of Ukraine..."
— David M. Herszenhorn (@herszenhorn) May 8, 2014

17:39 8.5.2014

"Say yes" on May 11 reads this "Donetsk People's Republic" referendum billboard. Several lining this #Donetsk hwy. pic.twitter.com/Qy2wn56cTA
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) May 8, 2014

17:50 8.5.2014

So, the choice in Sunday's referendum is clear: bloody axe-wielding Nazis or rose-carrying miners. #Donetsk #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/y87u441Kxi
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) May 8, 2014

18:33 8.5.2014

TT @Rogozin It turns out it took 4.5 hours to fly to Chisinau. Through Bulgaria and Romania. Ukraine is not letting us through its airspace.
— Paul Sonne (@PaulSonne) May 8, 2014

18:44 8.5.2014

According to RFE/RL's news desk, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin had to take the "scenic route" to the Moldovan capital today:

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin has written on his Twitter account that Ukrainian authorities denied Rogozin's plane the right to fly through Ukrainian airspace.

Rogozin was flying to Chisinau, Moldova, to take part in celebrations of Victory Day in Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region.

Rogozin said his plane was forced to fly through Romanian and Bulgarian airspace to reach Moldova, a "delay of some 4.5 hours," he tweeted.

Moldova's Foreign Minister Natalia Gherman said on May 5 that she had not received official notice of Rogozin's visit for the May 9 celebrations and had summoned Russia's ambassador for an explanation.

Moscow-backed Transdniester declared independence from Moldova in 1990.

The two sides fought a brief war in 1992 that ended when the Russian military intervened on Transdniester's side.

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Live Blog: Crisis In Ukraine (Archive)