Tensions high as Ukraine votes
Fears that referendum could push country closer to civil war
ELECTION preparations were under way in east Ukraine yesterday on the eve of an independence vote called by pro-Russian separatists that has the potential to plunge the country into civil war.
The voting comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Crimea on Friday for the first time since its annexation by Moscow and the fighting in eastern Ukraine left more than 20 dead.
Despite a surprise call from Putin this week to delay the independence referendums, rebels holed up in more than a dozen towns and cities in eastern Ukraine vowed to press ahead with votes that are bound to increase tensions.
Amid the military operation by the Ukrainian army to oust rebels in the region that has left dozens dead, today’s referendum asks people whether the industrial region of Donetsk should become independent from Kiev — seen as a stepping stone by some towards joining Russia. A similar vote is also set to be held in the neighbouring Lugansk region.
Together, the two regions have a population of 7.3 million, out of 46 million for all of Ukraine.
Putin’s Crimea visit further spiked the tensions and drew a sharp rebuke from authorities in Kiev, who accused the Russian strongman of stoking them with his visit to Sevastopol, home to Russia’s Black Sea fleet.
“This provocation once again confirms that Russia deliberate- ly seeks further escalation of tensions,” said the foreign ministry, calling the visit a “flagrant violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty”.
The White House also condemned the trip. National Security Council spokeswoman Laura Magnuson said it “will only serve to fuel tensions”.
Nato head Anders Fogh Rasmussen called the visit “inappropriate” given Crimea’s “illegal, illegitimate” annexation.
A poll released on Thursday by the Pew Research Centre in the US suggested that 70% of Ukrainians in the east wanted to stay in a united country and only 18% back secession. Two out of three respondents in the
Putin’s Crimea visit drew a sharp rebuke from authorities in Kiev
east, however, were unhappy with the Western-backed government in Kiev.
With unease high ahead of the independence vote, fighting between Ukrainian troops and pro-Moscow militants erupted in the southeastern port city of Mariupol and in Donetsk in the east.
The crisis in Ukraine kicked off after the ousting of the country’s pro-Kremlin president in February. The violence has prompted many Western politicians to warn that the country is slipping towards a civil war. — AFP-Reuters