Separatists claim victory in Ukraine

Donetsk voters OK self-rule, pro-Russia insurgents assert

A Ukranian woman casts her vote in a booth at a polling station in the center of Donetsk, Ukraine, Sunday May 11, 2014. Residents of two restive regions in eastern Ukraine engulfed by a pro-Russian insurgency are casting ballots in contentious and hastily organized independence referenda. Sunday's ballots seek approval for declaring so-called sovereign people's republics in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where rebels have seized government buildings and clashed with police and Ukrainian troops. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)
A Ukranian woman casts her vote in a booth at a polling station in the center of Donetsk, Ukraine, Sunday May 11, 2014. Residents of two restive regions in eastern Ukraine engulfed by a pro-Russian insurgency are casting ballots in contentious and hastily organized independence referenda. Sunday's ballots seek approval for declaring so-called sovereign people's republics in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where rebels have seized government buildings and clashed with police and Ukrainian troops. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)

DONETSK, Ukraine -- Residents in eastern Ukraine formed long queues at polling stations Sunday to cast their votes in hastily organized independence referendums, defying the central government, which called the ballots illegal and funded by neighboring Russia.

Ninety percent of voters in a key industrial region in eastern Ukraine came out in favor of sovereignty, pro-Russia insurgents said.

Roman Lyagin, election chief of the self-styled Donetsk People's Republic, said about 75 percent of the Donetsk region's 3 million or so eligible voters cast ballots, and the vast majority backed self-rule.

A second referendum organized by pro-Russia separatists was held Sunday in eastern Ukraine's industrial Luhansk region, but no immediate results were released.

Ukraine's central government and the West had condemned the balloting as a sham and a violation of international law, and they have accused Moscow of orchestrating the unrest in a possible attempt to grab another piece of the country weeks after the annexation of Crimea.

Ukraine's interim president warned that independence for eastern regions would destroy the country's economy. "This is a step into the abyss for the regions," Oleksandr Turchynov said in comments posted on the presidential website Saturday.

The results of the two referendums could hasten the breakup of the country and worsen what is already the gravest crisis between the West and Russia since the end of the Cold War.

Although the voting in the two regions with a combined population of 6.5 million appeared mostly peaceful, armed men identified as members of the Ukrainian national guard opened fire on a crowd outside the town hall in Krasnoarmeisk, and an official with the region's insurgents said people were killed. It was not clear how many.

The violence in Krasnoarmeisk, about 20 miles from the regional capital, Donetsk, came hours after armed men, one of whom said they were from the national guard, put a stop to the voting and took control of the town hall. Organizers grabbed the boxes of cast ballots and ran, and the soldiers took up positions in the City Hall building where a secessionist polling station had been operating on the steps.

In the evening, more armed men arrived in a van, and a scuffle broke out with people gathered around the building. Then the men fired shots.

An Associated Press photographer who witnessed the shooting said two people lay motionless on the ground. Insurgent leader Denis Pushilin was quoted by the ITAR-Tass news agency as saying there were an unspecified number of deaths.

Shots were fired in another confrontation in the Luhansk region, the Interfax news agency reported. Ukrainian soldiers there fired into a crowd that was blocking national guard armored vehicles near the village of Baranikovka, the agency said; two people were wounded.

In Dobropole, a pro-Ukrainian group staged a counter-referendum, calling for the town to secede from Donetsk province and join a neighboring province to the west that would remain part of Ukraine. It set up a polling station across a dusty and potholed street from the secessionists, with men guarding each side.

Over the past few weeks, the Ukrainian government and the West have accused Russia of trying to destabilize the country or create a pretext for another invasion. Putin has arrayed a force of as many as 40,000 troops on Ukraine's eastern border, according to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Russia -- which annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula just days after voters there approved secession in a March referendum -- has rejected the accusations.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Sunday that he sees no evidence Russia has withdrawn troops massed on its border with Ukraine.

"They're not leaving, as far as we can tell," Hagel said on ABC's This Week program.

"Russia continues to isolate itself for a short-term gain," Hagel said. Asked if Russia is an enemy of the U.S., Hagel said, "We're not at war with Russia."

State Department spokesman Jen Psaki said the United States would not recognize the results of the referendums, whatever they were. She said they were "illegal under Ukrainian law, and are an attempt to create further division and disorder."

Back in Ukraine, at one polling station at a school in Donetsk, turnout was brisk in the first hour of voting. All voting slips that could be seen in the clear ballot boxes showed that self-rule had been selected.

Roman Agrisov, a 40-year-old steelworker, said he wanted his vote to signal to the central government to pull its troops out of eastern Ukraine.

"I am voting because I don't want war," he said.

Most opponents of sovereignty appeared likely to stay away from the polls rather than risk drawing attention to themselves.

Darya, a 25-year-old medical worker who would not give her last name, said she saw no point in casting a ballot, since the vote had no legal force.

"There were no notices about this referendum anywhere, about where and when it was happening," she said. "In any case, it is not valid, so there was no reason to take part."

There were no immediate signs of any outright intimidation by pro-Russian forces Sunday, and insurgents near the polls were not wearing their usual balaclavas.

The haphazard nature of the referendums was in full display at Spartak, a leafy village on the fringes of Donetsk.

Villagers were unable to vote for about three hours after the polls opened because election officials failed to bring a ballot box. Finally, an election organizer arrived with a voting urn crudely fashioned from cardboard boxes and sealed with tape.

Most present said they were voting in favor of autonomy and against the interim government headed by Turchynov. One said she would not take part in a nationwide presidential election set for May 25.

"I don't agree with what is happening in the country. And I want some changes for the better. What is happening on May 25 is not honest, truthful or in our best interests. And that is why I am voting today," said Irina Zelyonova, 30, cradling her baby in her arms.

Turchynov and Ukraine's caretaker government came to power in February following the ouster of Kremlin-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych after months of protests in Kiev. Moscow and many in Ukraine's east have accused the new government of intending to trample the rights of eastern Ukraine's Russian-speakers.

More than 30 people have been reported killed since Ukrainian forces began trying to retake some eastern cities from the insurgents.

Turchynov's chief of staff, Serhiy Pashynskyi, pledged Sunday that the government would seek to avoid further civilian casualties. "We will not engage in street fights in Slovyansk or elsewhere because that will lead to dozens of unnecessary deaths," he said.

Elsewhere, Moldovan authorities said they have stopped Russia's deputy prime minister from leaving the country with a petition calling on Moscow to recognize a separatist region, but he claimed Sunday he had delivered most of the signatures supporting it.

Dmitry Rogozin visited the separatist province of Trans-Dniester, where 1,500 Russian troops are stationed, to celebrate Victory Day on Friday. He offered support to separatists and criticized Moldova's government for seeking closer ties with the European Union.

Moldova's Foreign Ministry said late Saturday that authorities confiscated boxes of signatures from Rogozin at Chisinau airport and would analyze the material.

Rogozin, however, said on his Facebook page that Moldovan officials "only got a small part" of the signatures.

"We have taken due care of the bulk of the cargo," he said, adding that what he called a Moldovan "provocation" will have "serious consequences" for bilateral ties.

Trans-Dniester, which borders Ukraine, broke away from Moldova in 1990 and is not internationally recognized, but is supported by Russia.

Information for this article was contributed by Peter Leonard, Mark Rachkevych, Manu Brabo and Corneliu Rusnac of The Associated Press; by David Lerman of Bloomberg News; and by Andrew E. Kramer, Noah Sneider, C. J. Chivers and David M. Herszenhorn of The New York Times.

A Section on 05/12/2014

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