Ukraine crisis: Flights halted at Donetsk airport

Pro-Russia militiamen have disrupted the election in the east

Flights have been suspended at the airport in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk following an intervention by armed separatists, officials said.

Several dozen men had arrived in the early hours and demanded Ukrainian troops withdraw from the airport, they said.

The incident came as Ukraine awaited results from its presidential election.

Confectionery magnate Petro Poroshenko looks set to win without a run-off and has vowed to "bring peace".

Flights were temporarily suspended at Sergei Prokofiev airport after the separatists, reported to be members of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic, demanded Ukrainian troops guarding the inner perimeter of the airport be removed.

Officials said there had been "shots and confrontation".

Flights were halted in Donetsk on security grounds

The head of Donetsk airport's press service, Dmitry Kosinov, said: "On the territory of the airport there are armed people, this is ample reason to halt our work on security grounds."

Poll disruption

Mr Poroshenko, 48, has already claimed victory in the election based on exit polls.

He currently has 53.86% of the vote, with just over half of the ballots counted. Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is a distant second on 13.1%.

Final results are expected on Monday.

Petro Poroshenko: "Without Russia it would be much less effective or almost impossible to speak about the security in the whole region"

The election came three months after pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych fled Kiev amid bloody street protests and calls for closer ties with the EU.

Since then, Russia has annexed the Crimean peninsula in southern Ukraine and armed separatists in the eastern Donbass provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk have declared independence from Kiev.

Ukraine's interim government is engaged in an offensive in the east to quash the uprising that has left scores dead.

Pro-Russian separatists severely disrupted voting there. No polling stations were open in Donetsk city, and across the region only seven out of 12 district electoral commissions were operating.

However, the central elections commission said about 60% of Ukraine's 35.5 million eligible voters had turned out.

Mr Poroshenko vowed to "put an end to war, chaos, crime, and bring peace to the Ukrainian land".

He also promised a dialogue with the people of eastern Ukraine.

"For those people who don't take [up] weapons, we are always ready for negotiations to guarantee them security, to guarantee their rights, including speaking the language they want," he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised to recognise the results of the election.