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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
13:20 7.5.2014
12:59 7.5.2014
RFE/RL' news desk has been reporting on Putin's meeting in Moscow with the OSCE's chairman Didier Burkhalter:
Swiss President Didier Burkhalter has stressed the importance of opening a dialogue on Ukraine and bringing an end to the bloodshed during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Burkhalter, the OSCE rotating chairperson for 2014, arrived in Moscow today for the meeting with Putin.

The two made brief comments to the media before going into a private meeting.

Putin said he was prepared to discuss a way out of the crisis in Ukraine and told Burkhalter "I know you have your own proposals…of how to find a way out of the situation" in Ukraine.

Putin added, "Our position is known."

Burkhalter's visit comes as violence in Ukraine is increasing and spreading as Ukrainian government forces attempt to chase pro-Russian separatists from areas they control.
12:04 7.5.2014
12:02 7.5.2014
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service has issued this video of a Russian couple burning their passports in Lviv in protest at Moscow's stance on Ukraine:
Russian Couple Burns Passports In Lviv
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11:59 7.5.2014
11:43 7.5.2014
11:30 7.5.2014
Another update from our news desk:
International envoys are meeting with Ukraine's interim leadership in Kyiv as a pro-Russian insurgency continues in the country's eastern regions ahead of crucial elections later this month.

Jeffrey Feltman, the UN undersecretary-general for political affairs held talks today with Ukraine's acting president Oleksandr Turchynov.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague is also in Ukraine for talks with the nation's leaders.

The U.S. and European nations have increased diplomatic efforts ahead of Ukraine's May 25 presidential election.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces today pushed into the eastern port of Mariupol, occupying the town hall shortly after heavy fighting overnight. Casualties were reported.

The town hall was retaken by pro-Russia separatists after Ukrainian forces left the building.

Ukrainian troops reportedly detained Ihor Kakidzyanovk, the defense minister of the self-proclaimed pro-Russian Donetsk People's Republic, near Mariupol today.

Fighting was also reported around the flashpoint city of Slovyansk.
11:23 7.5.2014
11:22 7.5.2014
10:47 7.5.2014

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