The leaders of pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine decided Thursday to move ahead with their plan to hold a May 11 referendum on region's independence, despite Moscow's calls to postpone.

"The referendum is the only way to solve the controversial issues and to inform the world what is really going on here," pro-Russia movement leader Denis Pushilin told reporters during a media conference.

According to Pushilin, the working groups of the self-proclaimed republics in the country's Donetsk and Lugansk regions voted unanimously in favor of holding the referendum on Sunday.

The vote, initiated by the pro-Moscow movement in eastern Ukraine, will ask people whether their regions should become sovereign republics, independent from government in Kiev.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked the protesters to postpone their referendum and seek dialogue with Ukrainian authorities. Endi

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