Eastern Ukraine Crisis: Referendum On Autonomy Passes With 90 Percent

The eastern Ukraine crisis may have just reached another tipping point, as the Donetsk People’s Republic announced that after the voting finished about 90 percent of the people voted in favor of eastern Ukraine operating under a self-ruled government separate from both Russia and Kiev.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, the day before the vote Russia’s nuclear weapons were tested and Putin ordered drills for preparing for a hypothetical nuclear strike by a foreign enemy. Some people believe that in the future that eastern Ukraine may ask Russia to protect them, or even annex them, if Kiev does not accept the results of the vote.

A recent poll of the people in Donetsk revealed that 52.2 percent of the people were against Russia annexing them and 66.3 percent do not want military intervention from Russia. While that sounds like a close race, in this case it’s only 25.5 percent who are in favor of becoming part of Russia again. Even when the poll was narrowed down to Russian-speaking Ukrainians in the area about 69.7 percent opposed Moscow taking power. Others preferred solutions like becoming their own republic or to make a change in Ukraine’s central government. For example, 74 percent consider acting President Oleksandr Turchynov to be illegitimate.

Representatives for the Donetsk People’s Republic claim that around 75 percent of eligible voters participated in the referendum. But Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry called their referendum a “criminal farce” and the United States already said they wouldn’t recognize the outcome of the vote. But so far the results show an eerie resemblance to the vote in Crimea which led to Russia annexing that portion of Ukraine. In that case Kiev also said the influence of Russia played a major role in the outcome.

In addition, some reports note that “all voting slips that could be seen in the clear ballot boxes showed that self-rule had been selected.” There are also some reports from “Ukrainian government forces that cars had been stopped at roadblocks and found to be delivering already-filled-out ballots in favor of independence.” Even the voting process itself was described as disorganized due to the lack of modern automation. But others claim they voted in favor of being separate from the central government because of the use of military force by Kiev in recent weeks after the Donetsk People’s Republic seized the area. The escalating violence continued throughout the voting day, with conflicts between armed soldiers resulting in deaths.