KIEV, Ukraine — Locals in Ukraine's predominantly Russian-speaking East went to the polls Sunday to vote in regional referendums on independence that have been called illegal and look set to further pit Russia against the West.
"We are working in very difficult conditions," said Yevgeny Afinogeyev, deputy chairman of a polling station in central Donetsk as transparent ballot boxes were being set up on Saturday. "Our local officials who are motivated only by their corrupt interests are putting sticks in the wheels. They are traitors."
Independent observers reported a number of irregularities at polling stations Sunday, with some people seen voting twice.
All css and css3 for css tools and css3 tools with css code generator and css3 code generator. All css generator and css3 generator for css button gerator and css3 button generator, css gradient generator and css3 gradient generator, css menu maker and css menu maker, css button maker and css3 button maker other help css editor and css3 editor.
Law and order at the polling stations in Donetsk was being provided by pro-independence "self-defense" militia due to lack of enthusiasm from local police, Afinogeyev said. Although Ukrainian law does not stipulate for regional elections, Afinogeyev insisted the poll was legal, citing a U.N. charter on local self-determination.
Ballots and fliers were prepared with paper cutters and printers brought into the auditorium of a seized government building, where men in camouflage took part in printing the ballots.
Ukraine's East has been roiled by bloodshed since pro-Russian militants seized a number of government buildings in the Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions on April 6 and proclaimed independence from Ukraine. The rebels, tacitly supported by Russia, refuse to recognize Ukraine's new government, brought into power in February after pro-Western demonstrations toppled the regime of President Viktor Yanukovich.
In March, Russia annexed Ukraine's breakaway peninsula of Crimea after locals voted to join Russia in a similar referendum. Ukraine refuses to recognize the regional referendums in the East and accuses Russia of sending security agents to destabilize the region.
Dozens have been killed in attempts by Ukraine to crack down on separatists in Slovyansk, while clashes between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian demonstrators led to the deaths of some 47 six people in Odessa last week and at least 20 in Mariupol on Friday.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin asked rebels in Donetsk to postpone the referendum last week amid the bloodshed, but they refused. Locals in Mariupol said Friday that a military operation by the Ukrainian national guard that killed 20 separatists was meant to punish them for holding the referendum, with some saying it would only inspire them to vote for independence.
Ukraine's acting President Olexander Turchynov on Saturday called the vote a "step toward the abyss."
Locals in Donetsk were split whether to vote for secession or remain part of Ukraine, with a number intimidated by the armed militants occupying the regional council building in the center of the city. Many of those who said they were against independence were opting not to vote at all.
"There is no third way anymore. You have to be either for or against. But why should I hate my own country? So they proclaim independence, but then what?" Vyacheslav Fomenko, an entrepreneur in Donetsk, said.
But those who supported independence said they were motivated by lack of trust for the government in Ukraine, not a desire to split up the country.
"Even though I am Russian, I lived all my life in Ukraine and I would never have thought of splitting it up," said Irina Popova, a teacher in Donetsk. "But what's happening now is unbearable. The referendum is the only way to show that we are against this fascism. There is no dialogue in Ukraine. There is no way to unite it again."
"The country was already split up when they set up barricades in Kiev and overturned the government," her son, Mikhail Popov, said.
Ukraine's interim government angered Russian-speaking residents in the East when it briefly considered not recognizing Russian as a second language. Russia then launched a massive propaganda campaign exaggerating Kiev's policies and calling them "fascists."
But successive governments – from the pro-Western administration of Viktor Yushchenko to that of the more Russian-leaning Viktor Yanukovich have failed to address rampant corruption, locals said.
"We voted for Yanukovich, though we knew what kind of person he was. But now he just betrayed us," Irina Popova said
No comments:
Post a Comment