DONETSK, Ukraine - Pro-Russia activists occupying regional offices in Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Monday proclaimed the creation of a separatist Donetsk republic, a Reuters witness said. One of the leaders of about 100 activists who moved into the building on Sunday night called for a referendum to be held no later than May 11 on the establishment of the 'Donetsk people's republic'. Reading from a text, an unidentified, bearded man said protesters would call on Russia to send in a 'peacekeeping contingent' in the event of aggressive action by what he described as the 'illegitimate' authorities in Kiev.
