Pro-Russia separatists occupying government buildings in eastern Ukraine defied a deadline from Kiev to surrender as Moscow promised to “protect” people in the region from violence. A Russian flag continued to fly over the police headquarters in the city of Slavyansk at 9am (7am BST), the time Oleksandr Turchynov, Ukraine president, had given gunmen to lay down their weapons. Masked gunmen continued to man barricades in front of the building, agencies reported. On Sunday, Mr Turchynov said in a televised address that Kiev was “not going to allow Russia to repeat the Crimean scenario in Ukraine’s east”, referring to Moscow’s annexation of the peninsula last month. He said a “large-scale antiterrorist operation” would be launched to re-establish control of the contested cities. But Moscow, which has massed tens […]