Armed gunmen wearing military fatigues burst into the office of Roman Lazorenko in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk recently. They had a simple request for the local journalist. The men said they didn't want to be called separatists anymore, Lazorenko told the Guardian. They demanded that journalists instead refer to them as “supporters of federalization."

No sooner had the leaders of the so-called "People's Republics" of Donetsk, Luhansk, and Odessa declared the return of "Novorossiya" ("New Russia") earlier this month than they began fighting among themselves. Though they agree that the entire southeastern portion of Ukraine should join their self-proclaimed breakaway nation, they are divided over who should lead this new government.

Pro-Russian protesters have stormed government buildings in three eastern Ukrainian cities. In Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv they clashed with police, hung Russian flags from the buildings and called for a referendum on independence. Ukraine's acting president called an emergency security meeting in response.