A group of Ukrainian forces join People’s Republic of Donetsk

A group of Ukrainian forces has defected to the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk.

The event comes after the People’s Republic of Donetsk announced it is not after holding talks with Kiev’s interim government.

Donetsk Republic’s Prime Minister Aleksandr Boroday vowed on Saturday that there would be no negotiations until the complete withdrawal of Kiev’s forces from the region.

“As long as the territories are occupied, there will be no dialogue with Kiev,” local news agency Ostrov quoted Boroday as saying at a press conference.

The remarks came as Ukraine’s acting President Oleksandr Turchynov changed heads of four regions in Donetsk Province.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general declared the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics as “terrorist organizations.” In a statement released on Saturday, the prosecutor’s office said these two regions have financiers and arms supply channels.

Meanwhile, self-defense forces in Donetsk said they had arrested nearly 100 people for provocation against the region’s self-proclaimed republic.

Additionally, the deadline for an ultimatum set by Donetsk self-defense forces, which demanded the pullout of the Ukrainian troops from the territory, passed on Friday.

Deputy Commander of “the People’s Militia of Donbass” Sergey Zdrilyuk threatened to use force against the Kiev military troops if the demand was not met.

On May 12, Ukraine’s two eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk declared independence following local referendums in which the regions’ residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Kiev.

The referendums echoed a March vote in Crimea that led to the reunification of the peninsula with the Russian Federation. Nearly 97 percent of participants in Crimea’s referendum voted for rejoining Russia.