Developments in Ukraine Votes for Independence in Eastern Ukraine

On Sunday, May 11, residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Eastern Ukraine held referenda on whether to declare independence from Ukraine, in opposition to the regime installed in Ukraine considered to be reactionary or neo-fascist. News reports state that in Donetsk, 89.07 per cent of voters backed independence in its referendum Sunday. The turnout for the referendum was 74.87 per cent and 10.1 per cent voted against independence, the head of the Donetsk People's Republic's electoral commission Roman Lyagin said late Sunday. The question on the ballot read, "Do you support the act of state-rule of the Donetsk People's Republic?" A similar ballot question was posed in the Lugansk referendum. In Lugansk, the local election commission said voter turnout was 75 per cent and 96.2 per cent of voters supported the region's self-rule. On May 7, Putin had asked the protesters in Donetsk and Lugansk to postpone their polls and seek dialogue with Ukrainian authorities, but the request was rejected. About 3 million ballots were distributed in towns and cities in the two regions, which have a total population of 6.6 million. The government in Kiev sent its recently formed paramilitary forces to Donetsk and Lugansk regions to disrupt the referenda, RT reports. Voting in four towns across Lugansk region was disrupted as armoured military vehicles blocked passage to polling stations. In the Donetsk town of Krasnoarmeysk, the National Guard shot at a crowd and killed two civilians who were protesting their attempt to seize a polling station. On March 18, Crimea joined Russia following an independence referendum. As with the referendum in Crimea, the EU and western countries are not recognizing the results of the referenda held in Donetsk and Lugansk. (TML Weekly No. 19, May 17, 2014)