DONETSK, July 30 - Even as the fighting rages in east Ukraine, the unrecognized Donetsk People's Republic says it's pushing on with ambitious plans to roll out a fully independent financial system within two months, AFP reported.

The self-declared government of the rebel republic has set up a People's Bank to handle the improbable task -- a sort of nascent rebel central bank for a shrinking statelet under siege from Ukrainian forces.