discussing eastern ukraine and then called on one by one to tell the russian leader what he wanted to hear. the situation there is tense, the russian defense minister says. serious provocations are being prepared, he alleges, to impose a forcible solution on the region. the implication is that russia should act. basically, ukraine doesn t even need these territories now, sid dmitry med ved ov, a former russian president and prime minister. the residents have not been receiving any support from ukraine in years, he added. on the contrary, they re subjected to mass repression. on russian state media, these were the jubilant scenes in donetsk, the main city in one of the breakaway regions, when news filtered back that moscow had recognized the territory as an independent state. russian flags and fireworks set