Big majority vote for independence in Donetsk

Nearly 90 per cent of voters in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk voted for self-rule, the head of the separatist election commission said last night. "Eighty nine per cent, that's it," Roman Lyagin told Reuters by phone when asked for the result.

Donetsk is the larger of two eastern Ukrainian regions where separatists held a referendum on self-rule yesterday.

Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine earlier hailed their disputed independence referendum as a success, despite warnings from Kiev and western powers it would throw the country deeper into chaos.

Mr Lyagin said turnout in the region was 70 per cent four hours before polls were due to close, while fellow separatists in neighbouring Luhansk province put the figure there at more than 75 per cent at about the same time.

Prominent figures in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) made clear they expected the vote to give overwhelming support to the region’s right to break away from Ukraine.

“Now, in so far as we have already taken responsibility into our own hands, it is essential to as quickly as possible form organs of state power and military power,” said the self-proclaimed leader of the DPR, Denis Pushilin.

“Any military formations located on our territory after the official announcement of the referendum results will be regarded as illegal and declared to be occupiers,” he added.

Isolated clashes between government forces and armed separatist groups continued around the region yesterday, and one civilian was reported to have been shot dead when a national guard unit entered the town of Krasnoarmeysk, outside Donetsk city.

Ukraine’s new pro-EU government and its western allies poured scorn on the hastily organised vote, which DPR representatives say was arranged for less than €2,000.

The rebels control only part of a large region of more than three million voters, no independent observers monitored the process and no measures were in place to stop people voting as often as they wished in different places.

Ukraine's acting president Oleksandr Turchinov described secession from the country as "a step into the abyss for these regions".

"Those who stand for self-rule do not understand it would mean complete destruction of the economy, social programmes and life in general for the majority of the population in these regions," he said before the referendum.

Ballot chaotic

For months, Russia’s state media have bombarded the country’s people, and residents of largely Russian-speaking southern and eastern Ukraine, with portrayals of the Kiev authorities as Russophobic “fascists” backed by roaming bands of neo-Nazi killers.

Many people in the east angrily reject the authority of the new government, which was formed when Donetsk-born former president Viktor Yanukovich and his allies from eastern regions fled Ukraine after deadly protests in February.

Voters were out in significant numbers in Donetsk yesterday, with almost all of them declaring support for independence.

The conduct of the ballot was chaotic in places. In Mariupol, a city of 500,000 people, long queues formed because only four polling stations were operating. Anti-Kiev sentiment was strong in the city, where as many as 21 people were killed on Friday.

Ukraine's leaders and the west believe Moscow is stoking and orchestrating much of the unrest in the east, to destabilise the country, prevent its new government functioning normally, and disrupt the May 25th presidential elections.

Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the EU Council, is expected to visit Kiev today and EU foreign ministers will discuss Ukraine's crisis in Brussels, where tomorrow Ukrainian ministers are due to hold talks with the European Commission. – (Additional reporting Reuters)