-- 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."
RFE/RL's Ukraine Unspun blog takes a look at how Russia's Rossiya-1 television convinced viewers that a construction site in eastern Ukraine is actually a "concentration camp" for those "who speak out against Right Sector."
14:202.5.2014
A snippet of Russian state-run news agency ITAR-TASS's reporting on the clashes in Odesa:
About 1,500 young men wearing masks and Right Sector armlets armed
with chains, clubs and shields tried to stage a march along Odessa's
central streets, chanting "Glory to Ukraine," "Death to Foes," "Stab
Moskals" [Moskal is an ethnic slur for Russians used in Ukraine], an
Itar-Tass correspondent reported from the site.
They were met by activists from the Kulikovo Pole (Kulikovo Field)
movement, who spoke against what they call the usurpation of power in
Ukraine, for a referendum on federalization of the country and granting
the Russian language the official state language status. Police failed to
prevent clashes, which have spread to Deribasovskaya Street and
Grecheskaya Square. A number of people have been injured.
13:562.5.2014
A pro-Kyiv activist in Slovyansk, who asked not to be identified, tells RFE/RL's Ukraine Service:
"If you are in some way connected to Ukraine, people can suffer because of that. If in the past we could go out with an Ukrainian flag and hold a rally, now this is impossible. You can even be shot down for that."
13:452.5.2014
Reuters now reporting that Russia has called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to discuss the situation around Slovyansk.
13:432.5.2014
Violence in Odesa escalating rapidly. Watch the live stream here.
13:412.5.2014
Here is the money quote from earlier in the day from Russian presidential press spokesman Dmitry Peskov:
"At present, we can regrettably say that those actions by the Kyiv authorities crossed out all Geneva agreements. At present, we can hardly count on even partial fulfilment of those agreements, but nevertheless, Russia continued to take consistent efforts to de-escalate. We appeal to the European capitals, to the United States of America, to give appropriate assessment of what is happening, and of course we call on those who are using this aviation against towns and villages."
13:402.5.2014
Here's a video of the violence in Odesa, where pro-Russian militants have attacked a Ukrainian-unity demonstration:
