Pro-Russian demonstrators in Ukraine's eastern region of Crimea clashed with police on Thursday.<br/> <br />It happened outside the regional parliament in the provincial capital, Simferopol.<br/> <br />The building was seized by armed men in the early hours of Thursday.<br/> <br />Witnesses said the men appeared to be ethnic Russian separatists.<br/> <br />A Russian flag was raised over the parliament, a direct challenge to Ukraine's new leaders in the capital Kiev.<br/> <br />Pro-Russian Crimeans protesting outside the building said they want a return to a 1994 constitution that claimed greater independence from Kiev.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (Russian) DEMONSTRATOR, NIKITA MIESHKOV, SAYING:<br/> <br />"I was born here and I can say that I am not necessarily Ukrainian, I am in fact a Crimean."<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (Russian) DEMONSTRATOR, LUDMILA MILODANOVA, SAYING:<br/> <br />"We cannot accept the authority in Kiev, we are a different people, you understand? And we are supporting our homeland. We want to either have the constitut
