A raucous Ukrainian Parliament on Friday extended by another year the self-rule of its two Russian-backed insurgent regions of Lugansk and Donetsk under a set of strict conditions. <br/><br/>The vote has been welcomed by Ukraine's Western partners but bitterly opposed by hard-core nationalists who set off flares outside the chamber during the first debate held yesterday. <br/><br/>Deputies voted by a 229 to 57 margin to extend "local self-government in individual districts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions" — once all Russian troops and arms are withdrawn from Ukraine's war-scarred east.<br/><br/>The measure is required because the initial three-year period of partial autonomy set in a moribund 2014 peace deal expires on October 18.