TODAY: Separatists riot and seize buildings across Ukraine; Putin and Lavrov deny Russian involvement; economy suffering; Putin to take a pay rise; UN report says Russia rigged Crimea referendum; Russian jets nearing US and Japanese territory.

Pro-Russia separatists rioted at government buildings across Ukraine yesterday (including a police building in Horlivka), prompting US President Barack Obama to urge President Vladimir Putin to use his influence to persuade the separatists to stand down.  He was echoed by Germany and the UK.  The BBC has footage of skirmishes in Slavyansk, including an attack on a local journalist.  The Guardian has a useful timeline of yesterday’s events.  Both Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied accusations of Russian involvement; Lavrov went so far as to say that Russia does not even have any intelligence agents in Ukraine. He also accused Ukraine of blocking Russian journalists from crossing its borders.  A leaked UN report on human rights in Ukraine claims that Russia tampered with the Crimea referendum.  A weatherman on state television channel Russia 24 spoke of a ‘gusty wind, possibly the wind of change’ over eastern Ukraine during his broadcast yesterday.