Insurgents in eastern Ukraine declare independence
By PETER LEONARD and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press
May 12, 2014 11:36 AM CDT
People react after Ukrainian national guardsmen opened fire on a crowd outside a town hall in Krasnoarmeisk, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the regional capital, Donetsk, Ukraine, Sunday, May 11, 2014. Although the voting in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions appeared mostly peaceful, Ukrainian national...   (Associated Press)

DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Pro-Russia insurgents have declared independence for the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine.

They read out the declaration at a rally Monday in the city of Luhansk after insurgents said 96 percent voted Sunday for the region's independence.

The announcement came only an hour after separatists in the neighboring Donetsk region declared independence and also asked to join Russia.

Both regions held a hastily arranged vote on separatism Sunday that Ukraine's government and its western allies said violated international law.

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