Pro-Russia rebels announce new 'state' to replace Ukraine

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Pro-Russia rebels fighting against Kiev announced on Tuesday the creation of a new "state" that they said would take the place of Ukraine.

The proposed country, called Malorossiya ("little Russia"), a Tsarist-era name used to describe the area covering modern-day Ukraine, would be founded after a referendum.

A constitution presented by rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko said representatives from the insurgents' self-declared Donetsk and Lugansk "People's Republics" and other regions had agreed to "declare the establishment of a new state, which is the successor of Ukraine."

Alexander Zakharchenko, head of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic". / CFP Photo

The document said rebel bastion Donetsk would become the capital, while Kiev would be reduced to the status of a "historical and cultural center".

The Ukraine's pro-Western authorities in Kiev have been locked in a conflict with the pro-Moscow rebels since 2014.

A peace deal brokered by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany in 2015 has hit a wall as clashes drag on along the volatile front-line. The latest move by the rebels could throw the troubled plan even further into doubt.

(With input from AFP)