Acting Ukrainian President Oleksander Turchinov warned pro-Russian eastern regions they would be stepping into the abyss if they voted for self-rule yesterday in a referendum that has raised Western fears of a slide to full civil war.
Barricades of tires and scrap metal blocked streets in Mariupol and in Slaviansk, centers of an uprising that has unleashed the worst crisis between the West and Russia since the Cold War. There was a clash between army and rebels near Slaviansk late on Saturday, but fighting had largely abated.
For a vote on which so much hangs, the referendum in the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, which has declared itself a “People’s Republic,” seems a decidedly ad hoc affair.
Photo: Reuters
Ballot papers have been printed with no security provision and the meaning of the question — asking voters if they support state “self-rule” for the People’s Republic of Donetsk — is, perhaps deliberately, unclear.
Some see in it endorsement of autonomy within Ukraine, some a move to independence and others a nod to absorption by Russia in the wake of Crimea, which Moscow annexed in March.
Annexation is favored by the more prominent rebels, but the ambiguity may reflect their fears that a full break would not garner enough support.
Turchinov is attempting to bring eastern political forces into a round table to discuss federal devolution, but says he will not deal with rebel leaders with blood on their hands.
He said secession from Ukraine “would be a step into the abyss for these regions... Those who stand for self-rule do not understand that it would mean complete destruction of the economy, social programs and life in general for the majority of the population.”
The loss of Ukraine’s coal and steel belt, which accounts for about 16 percent of national GDP, would be a severe loss for Kiev.
“A dreadful terror is in train with the support of a large part of the local population,” Turchinov said. “It is a complex problem when a population deceived by [Russian] propaganda support terrorists.”
Yesterday’s vote was going ahead despite a call by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday to postpone it — a move that briefly raised hopes for an easing of tension.
Western leaders have accused Putin of destabilizing Ukraine, and the US criticized as “provocative” a trip he made to Crimea on Friday.
“We are disappointed that the Russian government has not used its influence to forestall these referenda, since President Putin’s suggestion on May 7 that they be postponed, when he also claimed that Russian forces were pulling back from the Ukrainian border,” US Department of State spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement on Saturday.
“Unfortunately, we still see no Russian military movement away from the border, and today Kremlin-backed social media and news stations encouraged residents of eastern Ukraine to vote tomorrow, one even offering instructions for polling stations in Moscow. Russian state media also continue to strongly back the referenda with no mention of Putin’s call for postponement,” she added.
While most of the physical infrastructure appeared ready for the referendum, there appeared to be some confusion among residents about the choice they were being asked to make.
“What are the options? I’m for peace,” ethnic Azeri market-seller Assan Assanov said.
“That means you’re for the republic,” the woman at the neighboring stall told him.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
RSS