MARIUPOL/SLAVIANSK:, Ukraine, May 11 (Reuters) Pro-Russian separatist leaders pressed a referendum on self-rule across eastern Ukraine today that has raised fears in Kiev and the West of civil war and dismemberment.
Clashes flared anew on the outskirts of Slaviansk, the most heavily defended rebel redoubt, as the first voters appeared at polling stations, making their way through streets criss-crossed with barricades of felled trees, tyres and rusty machinery.
“I wanted to come as early as I could. We all want to live in our own country,” said Zhenya Denyesh, a 20-year-old student voting at a three-storey concrete and glass university building.
Asked what he thought would come after the vote, he replied: “It will still be war.” Ukrainian leader Oleksander Turchinov told pro-Russian eastern regions yesterday that if they move to secession it would be taking a step into the abyss. He said such a move would destroy the economy of the region, that produces 16 per cent of Ukraine’s GDP. Kiev and the West accuse Moscow of engineering the crisis, portraying the Ukrainian government as a body hostage to militant anti-Russian nationalists, and backing the rebel fighters with special forces, an allegation Moscow denies.
Kiev authorities consider the referendum illegal.
But in the same queue of voters, 54-year-old Irina, saw a ‘yes’ vote as endorsement of autonomy within Ukraine.
“I want Donetsk to have its own powers, some kind of autonomy, separate from Kiev. I’m not against a united Ukraine, but not under those people we did not choose, who seized power and are going to ruin the country.”
At another Mariupol voting centre, officials moved some ballot boxes outside onto the street, placed against a wall.
The eastern rebellion began shortly after President Viktor Yanokovich fled to Russia in February under pressure from mass protests in Kiev by pro-Western activists. They took to the streets after he decided to discard a cooperation accord with the European Union in favour of closer ties with Moscow.
Some see a “Yes” vote as endorsement of autonomy within Ukraine, some as a move to independence and others as a nod to absorption by Russia.
Annexation is favoured by the more prominent rebels, but the ambiguity may reflect their fears an explicit call for full “independence” might not have garnered the support they seek and could leave them in an exposed position towards Kiev.
Ukrainian leader Oleksander Turchinov has urged east Ukrainian political leaders to join a “Round Table” discussion on devolution of powers in Ukraine. But he has said he would not negotiate with “terrorists”, a formulation meant to exclude most of the more prominent rebel leaders.
The Ukrainian Defence Ministry said rebels attacked their forces guarding a television tower on the outskirts of Slaviansk. One Ukrainian serviceman was wounded in fighting.
Sergei, a fighter speaking near an outer checkpoint, blamed Ukrainian forces for the clash.
“They are probably trying to put people off voting, but it won’t work,” he said.
Eastern rebels and the Kremlin regard the pro-European Kiev government that replaced Yanukovich as lacking legitimacy.
Kiev aims to banish such questions by holding national presidential election on May 25, but the West sees Russian efforts to disrupt them and threatened economic sanctions against Moscow over the weekend.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande said on Saturday they would back further sanctions against Russia if Ukraine’s presidential election failed to go ahead because of disruption in the east.
Turchinov, who has ruled the referendum illegal and dismissed the allegations that the Kiev authorities are neo-fascists, told eastern regions yesterday any move to secession would be “a step into the abyss”. (REUTERS)
