-- 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."
Residents of three Ukrainian cities spokes to Reuters as they cast their ballots:
Slovyansk resident Nikolai:
"Well, we want an independent republic. Other than that, we don't want anything. The difference? Our own language, that's one. Being able to sort our own problems, that's two. That's all we want."
Slovyansk resident Svetlana:
"Of course I'm going to vote so that we have a federal structure. I don't recognize these authorities [in Kyiv]. They are a junta. They came to power through banditry."
Donetsk resident Yevgeny Belashov:
"We will create our own state, a federal one. Then we will join Russia."
Donetsk resident Arkady:
"Yes, [I voted] just like everybody -- for separation from Ukraine -- so they won't order us around and won't send bandits here."
Luhansk resident Lyudmila:
"I voted just OK -- for independence. ... We are not against the people. We are against the government [in Kyiv] that rules us now. But our people are great.
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A womans steps out of a polling booth in the village of Khryashchuvate.
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Our Central Newsroom reports that separatist officials in both provinces are claiming an "overwhelming" voter turnout. Pro-Ukraine media, however, said overall voter turnout in the two regions -- where the population is about 6.5 million people -- was low.
