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Five Russian regions to hold rallies to support Ukraine

MOSCOW, March 05, /ITAR-TASS/. Mass rallies to support Ukraine and Russians living there will continue in Russia on Wednesday.

Ukraine saw its president, Viktor Yanukovich, ousted in a violent uprising in February. The Ukrainian parliament then appointed an interim head of state, set early presidential elections and approved a new government, which Russia does not recognize.

Yanukovich fled his country. He told journalists in southern Russia last week that he remained Ukraine’s legitimate leader. Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a news conference on Tuesday that Yanukovich was the only legitimate president in Ukraine.

On Wednesday, residents of the Far East, Siberia, the Volga Region and the Central Federal District are expected to go out to support the Ukrainian people and voice their position against arbitrariness in Ukraine.

Dwellers of the Far Eastern city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and the southwest Siberian city of Gorno-Altaisk will gather for rallies in the morning. Residents of Omsk in southwest Siberia will start their rally at 13:00 Moscow Time (0900 GMT).

Kazan, the capital of the Russian republic of Tatarstan in the Volga Region, and Kursk in central Russia will hold their events at 17:00 Moscow Time.

A wave of “people’s gatherings” in support of Ukraine and Russians living there started in Russia on Sunday. Tens of thousands of people gathered then for actions organized by patriotic youth and veteran organizations in the capital Moscow, St. Petersburg in the country’s northwest and Krasnodar in south Russia.

On March 3-4, similar events were held in other big cities, including in Russian regions bordering on Ukraine - Belgorod, Bryansk, Novocherkassk, Rostov-on-Don and others.

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