Eastern Ukraine separatists declare new state
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Russian-backed rebels fighting against Kiev have announced the creation of a new “state” that they said would take the place of Ukraine and have its capital in their territory.
The proposed country would be founded after a referendum and called Malorossiya, a tsarist-era name meaning “Little Russia” that once described most of the area covering modern-day Ukraine.
A constitution presented by rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko said representatives from the insurgents’ self-declared Donetsk and Lugansk “People’s Republics” and other regions had agreed to “declare the establishment of a new state, which is the successor of Ukraine”.
The document said rebel bastion Donetsk would become the capital, while Kiev would be reduced to the status of a “historical and cultural centre”.
The surprise proposal is likely to draw scorn from Ukraine’s pro-Western authorities in Kiev, who have been locked in a conflict with the Moscow-supported rebels since 2014 that has cost the lives of some 10,000 people.
It was not clear why the rebels decided to put forward the new plan, but it is likely a gambit aimed at pushing forward their case in a stalled peace process.
