Referendum: 93% Crimeans overwhelmingly vote to join Russia

Crimeans have voted overwhelmingly to join Russia, with Russian news agency RIA saying exit polls indicate 93 percent voted in favour of the move.

As Russian flags fluttered in the breeze and retirees grew weepy at the thought of reuniting with Russia, residents of Ukraine's Crimea region held a secession vote Sunday. 

The United States and Europe condemned the referendum as illegal, while Ukraine's new government called it a "circus" directed at gunpoint by Moscow.

Ukraine interim PM reports making first contacts with Russia

[AFP] - Ukraine's interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that his government had made the first "timid" contacts with Russian leaders aimed at resolving the crisis in his ex-Soviet state.

"So far, (the talk) have been rather timid. But the first steps have been made," Yatsenyuk said in a statement issued after he held talks with visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry.