BBC Online :
Ukraine’s interim President Oleksandr Turchynov has condemned the unofficial referendums organised by pro-Russia groups in the east of the country as “a farce” with no legal basis.
Separatists in the Donetsk region have claimed victory in a “self-rule” referendum, saying 89% voted in favour.
And in the region of Luhansk, some 96% are said to have voted for self-rule.
BBC reporters at polling stations on Sunday witnessed few checks on identity and multiple voting in places.
This was no ordinary election. Some of our colleagues saw people putting multiple papers into the ballot box, there were no independent monitors at the polls. This was a vote that was organised, run and then counted by the activists behind it; so we can’t take the results at face value in any way.
When talking to people going to vote and asking them what they were voting for, they had very different opinions. Some people thought they were casting their ballot to join Russia, some people believed they were voting just to have more power in eastern Ukraine. Even the leaders of the referendum have different comments when you ask them what this is about.
The people behind it are claiming a great victory, they will be emboldened by it; they are already talking about forming essentially a parallel government, even a parallel military structure.
It is an important moment in this crisis, where we are seeing this country moving towards a deeper division, perhaps even some kind of break-up.
Mr Turchynov told Ukraine’s parliament that “the farce that terrorist separatists call a referendum is nothing more than propaganda to cover up murders, kidnappings, violence and other serious crimes”.
The EU and US also said the polls were illegal.
Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans has said he expected EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday to agree to expand sanctions against Russia over Ukraine, Reuters news agency reports.
EU leaders have warned Russia it faces further sanctions if Ukraine’s presidential election fails to go ahead.
A number of towns in the two eastern regions refused to hold the poll.
The referendums were held despite an earlier call by Russian President Vladimir Putin to delay them in order to create the conditions necessary for dialogue.
The Kremlin has so far made no official comments after the voting ended.
After the first round of voting in which voters were asked whether they supported self-rule, a second round of voting is planned in a week’s time, asking whether people support joining Russia.
Organisers also say they will boycott Ukraine’s presidential elections on 25 May. Russia annexed Ukraine’s southern autonomous republic of Crimea after a March referendum.
Russia is estimated to have some 40,000 troops near the border and says they have been pulled back, but Nato says it has seen no sign of this.
