Ukraine separatists begin voting in controversial election
No international election monitors were present for the vote, and no minimum
turnout has been set by the organisers, reflecting the uncertainty over how
many voters could turn out.
“These elections are important because they will give legitimacy to our power
and give us more distance from Kyiv,” said Roman Lyagin, election commission
chief of the Donetsk People’s Republic.
Poroshenko called the polls “pseudo-elections that terrorists and bandits want
to organise on occupied territory.”
The war has killed more than 4,000 people, including more than 300 in the last
two weeks, since erupting in April. A month earlier, Russian troops invaded
Ukraine’s southern province of Crimea, which was then annexed by Moscow.
Polls opened at 5:00 GMT and were to close at 17:00 GMT.