Pro-Russia rebels hold elections in eastern Ukraine, fueling conflict – Tribune
MOSCOW — Residents of rebel-held eastern Ukraine voted for leaders on Sunday, taking a step toward establishing an independent enclave and exacerbating tensions between Russia and the West.
Thousands of residents across war-torn eastern Ukraine lined up Sunday to give their backing to the rebel leadership, which has been working to establish a pro-Russian state in the southeast corner of the country.
The vote, embraced by Russia and condemned by Western and Ukrainian leaders, will change little in terms of leadership on the ground. But rebels said it would give them a measure of popular support in their negotiations with the central government in Kyiv, and it underlined how fully Ukraine has lost control of the region.
Rebel leaders have declared that an often-violated 2-month-old cease-fire is dead. Last week, they said they plan to take over more territory that is vital to establish their state.
A Ukrainian military spokesman said Russian military support had been flowing into eastern Ukraine in recent days, and witnesses reported long columns of unmarked military trucks traveling into the rebel stronghold of Donetsk. Before the vote, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia would recognize the results.
“I voted for peace and the future of our republic,� rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko said, RIA Novosti reported. After the elections, he said, Kyiv “will recognize us, give us our land back without a fight, and we will establish good diplomatic relations.�
Zakharchenko, a former electrician at an eastern Ukrainian mine, took over leadership of rebels in the Donetsk region from a Russian citizen in early August. He was running against two little-known candidates.
The leader of rebels in the Luhansk region, Igor Plotnitsky, a Soviet armed forces veteran and former civil servant, is expected to win.
Rebels had no access to voter registration rolls, and anyone could vote at any polling place he or she wanted, as well as online. Polling stations were crowded, with long lines, although there were fewer polling stations than for the Ukrainian parliamentary elections in 2012, and it was difficult to establish meaningful turnout figures.
Ukraine’s Security Service said Sunday that it had begun a criminal inquiry into the elections, and it declared persona non grata several far-right European politicians who had arrived in eastern Ukraine to watch the elections.
“Ukraine and the entire civilized world will not accept this farce,� Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wrote on Twitter. “I hope that Russia does not recognize these pseudo-elections!�
Rebels appear to be seeking to establish an enclave similar to Transnistria in Moldova or South Ossetia in Georgia, two spots in former Soviet republics that the Kremlin has used to maintain leverage over national governments.
But the rebel-controlled regions of eastern Ukraine are deeply dependent on Kyiv for electricity and other key resources.