The countries have gone to war over the region, and separatists have also called for it to become independent.
Chechen separatists have also claimed that a sniper has begun to terrorize the police in Grozny, the Chechen capital, firing on officers in the city's center and eluding capture.
Pro-Russian separatists have also threatened to take the city of Mariupol, as Juri Vendik reports.
Malaysia's PM said the separatists had also agreed to hand over the "black box" flight recorders of flight MH17.
The armed separatists have also established a strong presence on social media, with the Red Dragons posting videos of its fighters, including women, in gumboots and uniforms in a bush, and showing what they say was the shooting down of a military helicopter.
* Pro-Russia separatists have also detained journalists.
(The Houthi separatists have also been accused of launching indiscriminate attacks that cause civilian casualties).
A spokesman for Poroshenko said separatists had also fired at workers repairing power lines near the town.
Pro-Russian separatists have also abducted a number of Ukrainian journalists, including Irma Krat who runs an online news outlet and Serhiy Lefter.
Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said the separatists had also suffered "big losses" in three failed attempts to break through Ukrainian positions, including at Donetsk airport.
