A Rússia continua a abocanhar a Ucrânia

Pro-Russian activists occupying a government building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk have proclaimed the creation of a sovereign "people's republic" independent of the capital, Kiev. The announcement, which was posted on YouTube, was delivered by a protest spokesperson outside a building currently occupied by several thousand Russia supporters, some of them armed. "Seeking to create a popular, legitimate, sovereign state, I proclaim the creation for the sovereign state of the People's Republic of Donetsk," the spokesperson said to cheers from the gathered crowd. The Interfax news agency reported that the self-proclaimed leaders of Donetsk had vowed to hold a referendum on regional sovereignty no later than 11 May. Ukrainian presidential elections have been set for 25 May. The regional news website Ostrov said the activists wanted to join the Russian Federation in a similar way to the Crimean peninsula. Ukraine's acting president, Olexander Turchynov, said the separatist call in Donetsk and pro-Russian protests in two other cities in the east of the country were evidence of a "second stage" of Russian operations "playing out the Crimean scenario". The acting prime minister, Arseny Yatseniuk, told a cabinet meeting in Kiev: "An anti-Ukrainian plan is being put into operation ... under which foreign troops will cross the border and seize the territory of the country." Pro-Russian protesters remain in control of security service headquarters in the eastern Ukrainian region of Lugansk. Activists vacated an administration building in Kharkiv on Monday after occupying it overnight. On Sunday, a Russian soldier shot dead a Ukrainian naval officer in eastern Crimea, one of the few fatalities reported since Russia took control of the Black Sea peninsula in March. The shooting was announced by Ukraine's defence ministry. Russian media said a group of Ukrainian soldiers in the village of Novofedorivka had been drinking and were on their way home when they passed Russian soldiers guarding an entry to the military base where they previously worked, and an argument broke out between the two groups. "We confirm the death of a Ukrainian officer in the village of Novofedorivka in Crimea," the ministry's press service told Interfax-Ukraine. According to the news agency, the Russian serviceman shot dead the Ukrainian officer near the hostel where the latter lived. BBC