Kremlin says Ukraine events put legitimacy of May vote in question

ST PETERSBURG (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said on Thursday that events in Ukraine, where government forces have conducted operations targeting separatists, raise serious questions about the legitimacy of a Ukrainian presidential vote set for May 25.

"There is no doubt that such a development as criminal actions by those in Kiev ... place the legitimacy of the election scheduled for May in very serious question," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.