The leadership of 'Lugansk People's Republic' in eastern Ukraine announced Wednesday that parliamentary elections would be held in the self-proclaimed republic in September.
"Presumably, we plan to hold elections to the Supreme Council Sep 14," Xinhua quoted Vasily Nikitin, the self-styled prime minister of the republic, as saying.
He said local council elections in the region could also be held in September.
Armed activists in Lugansk and its neighbouring Donetsk regions established "people's republics" in early April and held referenda on their future status May 11.
Organisers of the referenda later announced the overwhelming majority of voters favoured independence.
Kiev has rejected the referenda as illegal and unconstitutional and launched an "anti-terror" operation against the insurgents, who have seized administrative buildings in more than a dozen cities and towns across the regions.
Protests demanding independence from the central government in Kiev erupted in eastern Ukraine early April, shortly after Russia absorbed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in March after a referendum.
