综合一区欧美国产,99国产麻豆免费精品,九九精品黄色录像,亚洲激情青青草,久久亚洲熟妇熟,中文字幕av在线播放,国产一区二区卡,九九久久国产精品,久久精品视频免费

World / Europe

Ukraine regions hold sovereignty vote

(Xinhua) Updated: 2014-05-12 07:09

Ukraine regions hold sovereignty vote

People cast their votes at a polling station in Donetsk, Ukraine, May 11, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]


Ukraine regions hold sovereignty vote

Eastern Ukrainian cities stick to referendum 

Ukraine regions hold sovereignty vote

Ukraine Crisis 
Local residents in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions went to the polls on Sunday in referendums aimed at seeking independence from the country.

People were asked on the ballot: "Do you support the act of state-rule of the Donestk (Lugansk) People's Republic?"

Some 2,900 polling stations remain open from 8:00 am local time (0500 GMT) to 10:00 pm (1900 GMT) in the two self-proclaimed republics.

About 3 million ballots have been distributed in towns and cities in the two regions with a total population of 6.6 million. Organizers said no minimum turnout is required for the result.

If the majority of local population votes to secede from Ukraine, organizers intend to hold a second round on May 18, which will ask voters whether they want to join Russia.

Ukrainian authorities and some Western countries denounced the controversial referendums as "illegal."

"The organizers of this criminal farce have violated the constitution and Ukrainian law," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The vote "will have no legal consequences for the territorial integrity of Ukraine," the statement said.

Sergiy Pashinskiy, chief of staff for the country's interim presidency, also called the referendum "a pitiful attempt of the terrorists and murderers to use people of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions to cover up their crimes."

The situation remained calm in most of the two regions as voting got under way, but sporadic clashes were reported in some cities and towns.

According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, an army soldier was wounded in a mortar shelling when activists exchanged fire with government troops near a TV tower on the outskirts of the town of Slaviansk.

The clash broke out shortly before voters made their way to polling stations through streets blocked by barricades of felled trees, tyres and rusty machinery.

Donetsk and Lugansk regions became an epicenter of the eastern protests in mid-April, when activists waving Russian flags seized government buildings, declared separatist republics and announced plans to hold a referendum on seceding from Ukraine.

The referendums were held after Crimea joined Russia on March 18 following an independence referendum in the southern Ukraine peninsula, which was not recognized by the West.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked the protesters in Donetsk and Lugansk to postpone their referendums and seek dialogue with Ukrainian authorities, which was, however, ignored by the protesters.

Previous Page 1 2 3 4 Next Page

Trudeau visits Sina Weibo
May gets little gasp as EU extends deadline for sufficient progress in Brexit talks
Ethiopian FM urges strengthened Ethiopia-China ties
Yemen's ex-president Saleh, relatives killed by Houthis
Most Popular
Hot Topics

...
娄烦县| 忻城县| 东平县| 庆阳市| 康保县| 重庆市| 炎陵县| 疏附县| 灌南县| 罗田县| 金昌市| 浮山县| 喀什市| 峨山| 延安市| 从江县| 巴塘县| 镇坪县| 甘德县| 肥城市| 广德县| 黄骅市| 台安县| 漳平市| 苍溪县| 甘洛县| 绥阳县| 西畴县| 都兰县| 兴仁县| 陕西省| 宜黄县| 定西市| 四会市| 泰顺县| 南平市| 穆棱市| 大兴区| 渭南市| 紫金县| 商水县|