Parliament Ukraine agrees to war law

On Thursday, the Ukrainian parliament passed a controversial law that officially declares rebellious Eastern Ukrainian territories and Crimea to Russian territory.

Poroshenko called it Thursday an important signal to the Donbass and the Crimea. After the pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovich was expelled from Kiev early in 2014, the unrest among Ukrainians grew with good ties with Russia. In the eastern mining region of Donbass, an uprising broke out where rebels proclaimed independence.

In March 2014, the peninsula of Crimea, where ethnic Russians form the majority, was incorporated without a struggle through Russia.