pro russian rebels hold referendums in donetsk and luhansk to split from ukraine
There is only one question on the ballot papers, in both Ukrainian and Russian: “Do you support the act of state self-rule of the Donetsk People’s Republic/Luhansk People’s Republic?”
The vote, carried out as two “referendums” in provinces where the insurgents hold more than a dozen towns, marks a serious deepening of the political crisis in Ukraine, which has pushed East-West relations to lows not seen since the end of the Cold War.
Although a “yes” vote would likely be recognised only by Russia, it would greatly undermine a presidential election Ukraine is to hold in two weeks, which the United States and the European Union see as crucial to restoring stability.
And they come as fighting continued in eastern Ukraine,with several explosions heard overnight in the flashpoint town of Slavyansk as the Kyiv authorities try to flush the rebels from towns they control.
Troops have been battling the well-armed separatists, who have barricaded themselves in towns and cities in the two provinces where the votes are taking place: Donetsk and Lugansk.
The referendums are “illegal under Ukrainian law and are an attempt to create further division and disorder”, US State
Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement late yesterday. The votes “violate international law and the territorial
integrity of Ukraine,” she stressed, adding that the United States would not recognise the result.
Earlier yesterday, France and Germany jointly threatened “consequences” on Russia if the presidential election is scuppered — echoing US President Barack Obama’s warning of automatic sanctions that would slice into whole sectors of Russia’s weakening economy.
Interim Ukrainian president Oleksandr Turchynov warned that voting for independence would be a “step into the abyss”
for these regions and lead to the “total destruction” of the economy there. Despite rebel claims that the polling will reach 90
percent of the seven million people living in these two provinces, the areas they hold account for less than half that
population.
They decided to go ahead with the vote despite a public request made Wednesday by Russian President Vladimir Putin to
postpone it. Polling stations opened in schools in rebel-held territory at 8:00 am (local time) and were to close 12 hours
later, according to insurgent chiefs in the city of Donetsk.