Pro-Russian separatists will vote to set up a breakaway regional leadership in the eastern Ukraine region of Donetsk and Luhansk aiming to take their war-torn region closer to Russia and defying Kiev and the West as the big guns still boom across the territory.
President Obama's national security adviser has said that anti-Semitic leaflets reportedly distributed in Ukraine were "utterly sickening" and that Obama had bluntly expressed his disgust.
Susan Rice was referring to leaflets demanding that Jews in eastern Ukraine register with a self-proclaimed local authority or face consequences. She says the leaflets had no place in the 21st century.
Rice said US Secretary of State John Kerry had forcefully conveyed that view to his Russian counterpart.
Ukraine's curiously named Internet Party has come up with an offbeat campaign gimmick to lure voters - dressing as Star Wars characters.
Tensions remain high in eastern Ukraine after at least three died in a day of shooting during what was supposed to be an Easter truce.
In an exclusive interview with NBC News, the Ukrainian Prime Minister warns of the dangers of unchecked Russian expansion and aggression.