Ukraine president calls snap vote

[webfact]

Ukraine crisis: President calls snap vote amid fighting

(BBC) Ukraine's president has dissolved parliament and called snap elections, as government forces continue to fight pro-Russian rebel forces in the east.

Petro Poroshenko said many current MPs were backers of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych and that the majority of Ukrainians wanted a new parliament.

Elections would be held on 26 October, he said in a TV address.

Separately, Ukraine's military says it clashed with rebel armoured vehicles that entered the country from Russia.

More than 2,000 people have died in months of fighting between Ukrainian forces and separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The two regions declared independence from Kiev, following Russia's annexation of the southern Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March.

Full story: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28931054


-- BBC 2014-08-26