KIEV: The Ukrainian interim President Oleksandr Turchynov on Monday slammed the independence referendums held in country’s eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as a farce without any legal basis.
In a statement, Turchynov said that the referendums are nothing more than propaganda to cover up murders, kidnappings, violence and other serious crimes.
On the other hand, Russia said that it respects the will of the people who voted in the recent referendums in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, calling for the implementation of the results without violence.
“In Moscow, we respect the will of the people of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and are counting on practical implementation of the outcome of the referendum in a civilized manner, without any repeat of violence and through dialogue,” the Kremlin statement read on Monday.
On Sunday, the referendums were held in the eastern Ukraine regions of Donetsk and Luhansk on their freedom.
Pro-Russian rebels have declared victory in the referendum, claiming that 90 percent of votes cast in Donetsk in favor of independence from the central government in Kiev.
The preliminary results in Luhansk region have not yet been announced but the leader of the local “people’s front” said that only around five percent voted against the “Act of state self-rule of the Luhansk People’s Republic.”
