MOSCOW, Sept 28 — The Russian-installed administrator of Ukraine’s Luhansk region said today that he had formally asked President Vladimir Putin to incorporate the region into Russia following a hastily organised referendum that the West has denounced as an illegitimate sham.

"Taking into account the fact that the population of the republic approved the decision in the referendum, I ask you to consider the issue of Luhansk People’s Republic becoming a part of Russia as a subject of the Russian Federation,” separatist leader Leonid Pasechnik said. — Reuters