Crimeans vote in referendum on whether to break away from Ukraine, join Russia
(about 2 hours later)
SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine — Crimeans voted overwhelmingly Sunday to leave Ukraine and join Russia, election officials in the breakaway peninsula said, with the extraordinarily high figures capping a one-sided campaign of intimidation and heavy-handed tactics that blocked most voters from hearing a vision for any alternative other than unification with Moscow.
SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine — Crimeans voted overwhelmingly to leave Ukraine and join Russia, election officials in the peninsula said Sunday, capping a heavy-handed campaign that blocked most voters from hearing a vision for any alternative to unification with Moscow.
Shortly before midnight, with tens of thousands of people jamming Lenin Square and the streets of Simferopol, Crimean political leaders declared that 93 percent of voters had chosen to be reunited with Russia. Fireworks exploded overhead while a male chorus sang the Russian national anthem from a giant stage, and people screamed and hugged each other.
Mikhail Malyshev, a senior election commission spokesman in the Crimean capital of Simferopol, announced that with a little more than 50 percent of the ballots counted, about 93 percent voted in favor of joining Russia.
In Sevastopol, officials say the turnout was 89.5 percent, and preliminary results are that 93 percent voting to join Russia.
The White House and Western governments rejected the referendum, conducted as thousands of Russian troops occupied the peninsula, and are eyeing sanctions. Ukraine’s prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, dismissed the vote as a “circus” under the “stage direction” of Moscow. Russia has staunchly defended it.
Sevastopol’s local results were announced on a concert stage in the biggest square, where officials walked onstage to the city’s anthem, Legendary Sevastopol. The crowd erupted in cheers when they heard the results
A vote in favor of seceding from Ukraine was widely expected; ethnic Russians make up 60 percent of Crimea’s population, and the region has deep historical ties to Russia. But the vote may only complicate the biggest standoff between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War and increase security fears in the rest of Ukraine and in other former Soviet states.
“We did it!” said an exhuberant Mayor Aleksey Chaliy.
Tensions rose elsewhere in Ukraine on Sunday. In the eastern city of Donetsk, thousands of pro-Russian demonstrators rallied in support of following Crimea’s lead and holding a referendum on joining Russia. Clusters of protesters stormed two government offices. Pro-Russian activists in Kharkiv, another troubled city in Ukraine’s east, charged into a cultural center and burned Ukrainian-language books while several thousand Moscow sympathizers marched in the southern city of Odessa, according to the Reuters news agency.
[READ: In Kiev, plenty of anger over the West’s response]
Shortly before midnight in Simferopol, with tens of thousands of people jamming Lenin Square and nearby streets, Crimean political leaders announced the preliminary vote totals. Fireworks exploded overhead while a male chorus sang the Russian national anthem from a giant stage and people screamed and hugged one another.
In the peninsula’s other major city, Sevastopol, local vote results were announced on a concert stage in the biggest square.
Dmitri Belik, head of the city council, told the cheering crowd, “Sevastolpol, we are in Russia! Thank you, citizens of Sevastopol, we did it with your help, and nobody is going to kick us out.”
Dmitri Belik, head of the city council, told the cheering crowd, “Sevastolpol, we are in Russia! Thank you, citizens of Sevastopol, we did it with your help, and nobody is going to kick us out.”
The move toward unification with Russian came as Western powers including the White House rejected the referendum even as Russian President Vladimir Putin described it as “fully consistent with international law and the UN Charter.”
Election officials said 82.7 percent of eligible voters in Crimea cast ballots. But many opponents of the referendum did not vote: Crimean Tatar leaders, for instance, urged their community to boycott the referendum, and many ethnic Ukrainians vowed to stay away.
The West is eying rapid sanctions following the vote, and a flurry of diplomatic calls took between Moscow, Washington and European capitals even as tensions rose elsewhere in Ukraine.
The vote marked the latest dramatic political development in Ukraine since Viktor Yanukovych, its pro-Russian president, abruptly decided in November to break off talks on an accord with the European Union and move closer to Russia. The move ignited mass protests, which eventually prompted him to flee the country. Parliament named a pro-Western government in his place. With days, Russia sent troops into the Crimean Peninsula, where it has a major naval base.
President Obama spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, a senior administration official confirmed.
In Crimea, residents began celebrating hours before the polls closed. In Sevastopol, drivers with Russian flags flying from their car windows sped through the city honking horns.
Earlier Sunday, the White House issued a statement rejecting the referendum as illegal and reiterated that it would not recognize any Russian actions taken on the basis of the vote. Noting Russia military escalation inside Crimea and on Ukraine’s borders, the statement called such behavior “dangerous and destabilizing.”
[PHOTOS: Crimeans vote on their future]
“Military intervention and violation of international law will bring increasing costs for Russia — not only due to measures imposed by the United States and our allies but also as a direct result of Russia’s own destabilizing actions,” the statement said.
“This is a dream come true,” said Irina Karbuk, a housewife whose husband was waving a Russian flag in Nakhimov Square. “We already are in Russia.”
A top White House aide on Sunday called on Putin to back down in Crimea or face economic sanctions from the West.
Elevated Russian presence
“President Putin has a choice about what he’s going to do here. Is he going to continue to further isolate himself, further hurt his economy, further diminish Russian influence in the world, or is he going to do the right thing?” White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
As voting was about to commence, Russia’s military presence on the peninsula increased dramatically. A Ukrainian Defense Ministry official said about 50 military trucks carrying diesel generators were observed late Saturday on the road to Sevastopol. About 100 armored vehicles and trucks were seen heading toward a military airport near Dzhankoy in northern Crimea, said Vladislav Seleznyov, a ministry spokesman.
After polls closed, British Foreign Secretary William Hague released a statement condemning the referendum, calling it “a mockery of proper democratic practice.”
Acting Ukrainian Defense Minister Ihor Tenyukh said Sunday that Russia had sharply elevated its troop presence in Crimea in recent days, bringing the total to 22,000. Tenyukh told the Interfax news agency that under basing agreements, Russia is limited to 12,500 troops in Crimea.
But Russia has been adamant that the vote should go ahead.
The United States and most Western countries have said that they will not recognize the results of the referendum, citing the Russian military occupation that began a few weeks ago and the crisis conditions under which the vote was called.
Kerry, Lavrov speak
Even as Crimea voted, diplomacy appeared to shift into high gear. President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone. While Putin defended the legitimacy of the referendum, a Kremlin statement said the two presidents agreed to “work together” to help maintain calm in Ukraine.
In a phone call between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry, Lavrov insisted that the referendum was legitimate and that “the results should be the starting point in determining the future of the peninsula,” according to a statement issued Sunday by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
In an earlier phone call between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry, Lavrov insisted that the referendum was legitimate but also said that “the results should be the starting point in determining the future of the peninsula,” according to a statement issued Sunday by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The statement also called on Ukrainian authorities to “curb the rampant violence by ultra-nationalist and radical groups terrorizing the dissident, Russian-speaking population, our compatriots.”
In the State Department’s version of the call, a senior official said Kerry had reaffirmed that the U.S. government will not recognize the outcome of the referendum. Kerry, the official said, “raised strong concerns” about Russian military activity near the Crimean border and “continuing provocations in eastern cities in Ukraine.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry later said that Kerry and Lavrov had agreed to continue working toward a solution to the crisis in Ukraine through “an earliest possible launch of constitutional reform.” The statement did not elaborate.
But the Russian and U.S. statements appeared to provide a flicker of optimism that the situation might be resolved without Russian annexation of Crimea.
In the State Department’s version of the call, a senior department official said that Kerry had reaffirmed that the United States considers the referendum illegal and will not recognize the outcome. Kerry, the official said, “raised strong concerns” about Russian military activity near the Crimean border and “continuing provocations in eastern cities in Ukraine.”
Stark study in contrasts
But the Russian and U.S. statements appeared to provide a glimmer of optimism that the situation might be resolved without Russian annexation, as both Kerry and Lavrov indicated a willingness to explore options for increased Crimean autonomy within Ukraine.
The mood in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev was grim Sunday, with Ukrainians helplessly watching as their nation moved closer to losing the Black Sea peninsula.
Kerry urged Russia to support efforts “to address power sharing and decentralization” through a process “that is broadly inclusive and protects the rights of minorities,” the official said. “It is positive to see Russia focusing on political processes.”
Yet in Crimea, even as a morning rain poured down on voters in Sevastopol, some, like Tatyana Borodina, 44, were festive.
But Russia would have to “reciprocate,” the official said, by immediately pulling its forces back inside their bases in Crimea and “addressing the tensions and concerns about military engagement,” including ending its military exercises along Ukraine’s eastern and southern borders and “provocative actions” in Ukrainian cities.
At School 3, where Borodina voted, a television in the hallway showed video of Sevastopol’s monuments to the Crimean War, interspersed with jerking, black-and-white photos of soldiers doing battle for the Soviet Army in World War II. A poll worker turned up the volume so the hallways filled with stirring, almost martial music.
Russia has suggested that it may have to intervene in eastern Ukraine to halt violence between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian demonstrators, which it blames on right-wing Ukrainians. Ukrainian officials have accused Moscow of provoking conflict in order to justify an intervention.
The Crimean vote occurred a day after Russian forces seized a natural gas facility just outside Crimean territory. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called the move “a military invasion by Russia.”
As voting was about to commence, Russia’s military presence on the peninsula increased dramatically. A Ukrainian Defense Ministry official said about 50 military trucks carrying diesel generators were observed late Saturday on the road to Sevastopol. About 100 armored vehicles and trucks were seen heading toward a military airport near Dzhankoy in north Crimea, said Vladislav Seleznyov, a spokesman.
Acting Ukrainian Defense Minister Ihor Tenyukh said Sunday that Russia had sharply elevated its troop presence in Crimea in recent days, bringing the total to 22,000. Tenyukh told Interfax news agency that under basing agreements, Russia is limited to 12,500 troops in Crimea.
“Unfortunately, in a very short period of time, this 12,500 has grown to 22,000. This is a crude violation of the bilateral agreements and is proof that Russia has unlawfully brought its troops onto the territory of Crimea,” Tenyukh said.
‘Crimea should be Russian’
Among the first to vote at School 3 in an elegant neighborhood in Sevastopol were Alla and Adolf Malerov, two pensioners who have been married for 52 years. Both said they voted to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.
“We are so tired of all the reforms,” said Adolf Malerov, 76, a retired miner who said he was alarmed at the violence of the protests in Kiev and the presence of ultra nationalists in the Ukrainian government who he considers “fascists.”
“We want stability and prosperity,” he said.
As Sunday morning wore on and a driving rain drenched Sevastopol, a steady stream of voters made their way to almost 200 polling places in the city and in neighboring villages. At School 3, a television in the hallway showed video of Sevastopol monuments to the Crimean War, interspersed with jerking, black and white photos of soldiers doing battle for the Soviet Army in World War II. A poll worker turned up the volume so the hallways filled with stirring, almost martial music.
Tatyana Borodina, 44, said she considered this the most special vote she has ever cast. She said she felt in a festive mood.
“If I want to live in another city or another country, I can move,” she said after voting to join Russia. “But Crimea should be Russian.”
“If I want to live in another city or another country, I can move,” she said after voting to join Russia. “But Crimea should be Russian.”
Down the block from School 3, an olive green military truck with Russian plates was parked outside a building that has become an office for self-defense units that have formed. But around the school and near the polling booths themselves, there was no visible security.
Security at polling places varied widely. At some schools, there was virtually none. At others, men wearing full-face balaclava masks and armed with Kalashnikov rifles guarded entrances.
In half a dozen towns surrounding Simferopol, local poll officials said voters were showing up with exceptionally strong feelings about the referendum.
Some opponents expressed skepticism that turnout was as high as officials said. But a steady stream of voters lined up to cast ballots. In half a dozen towns surrounding Simferopol, local poll officials said voters were showing up with exceptionally strong emotions about the referendum.
“People really want to express their feelings about what has been happening in Ukraine. This is coming from the heart,” said Ivan Karpovich, the polling station chairman in the town of Kashtanovoya, where he said 60 percent of registered voters had cast ballots by noon. By the same hour in the previous election in 2010, he said, only 21 percent of people had voted.
“People really want to express their feelings about what has been happening in Ukraine. This is coming from the heart,” said Ivan Karpovich, the polling station chairman in the town of Kashtanovoya, where he said 60 percent of registered voters had cast ballots by noon. By the same hour in the previous election in 2010, he said, only 21 percent of people had voted.
Outside the converted rural clubhouse where Karpovich was managing a steady stream of voters, a woman emerged beaming with happiness. “I want to give the biggest possible thanks to Vladimir Putin. He gave us the chance to choose our future that we always longed for,” said Nadezhda Kozak, 38, a postal worker. “This will be the best thing for all Crimea, and we will have a great holiday.”
The two-week vote campaign was lopsided. The pro-annexation side held large rallies and erected billboards across the peninsula, while pro-Ukrainian rallies were smaller and more sporadic. The Crimean government stopped airing Ukrainian television and substituted Moscow stations in its place. Several pro-Ukrainian activists and journalists were detained as the regional government warned that provocateurs might cause problems, and some complained of being beaten by vigilantes.
Many voters in other towns, almost all members of Crimea’s 60 percent ethnic Russian populace, expressed similar strong emotions. A retired naval officer said he wanted to kiss the boots of Russian soldiers who have entered Ukraine in recent weeks. A retired teacher said the vote would liberate Crimea from the new leaders in Kiev, calling them “the same fascists our grandfathers died fighting.”
The majority of Crimean Tatars, a Muslim minority, seemed to have stayed away from polling stations. At some, officials said they had not registered a single Tatar by early afternoon. Some Tatars sat glumly in their living rooms, watching the TV news, but others took part in an organized “vareneky protest,” making Tatar-style ravioli stuffed with cheese and sharing it with their neighbors.
Tatars boycott
“This is totally illegitimate, and I can’t bear to think about how things will be afterward,” said Tatiana Zhritov, 40, a car mechanic’s wife who made vareneky for her family Sunday. “I am Russian, and my husband is Tatar. We never had a single problem with anyone. Life is not perfect here in Ukraine, but it has been peaceful. Now Russia is trying to divide us.”
The great majority of Crimean Tatars, a Muslim minority, seemed to have stayed away. In several polling places, officials said they had not registered a single Tatar by early afternoon. Some Tatars sat glumly in their living rooms, watching the TV news, but others took part in an organized “vareneky protest,” making Tatar-style ravioli stuffed with cheese and sharing it with their neighbors.
Constable reported from Simferopol and Faiola from Kiev. Griff Witte in London, Karen DeYoung in Washington and Wiil Englund in Moscow contributed to this report.
“This is totally illegitimate, and I can’t bear to think about how things will be afterwards,” said Tatiana Zhritov, 40, a car mechanic’s wife who made vareneky for her family Sunday. “I am Russian and my husband is Tatar. We never had a single problem with anyone. Life is not perfect here in Ukraine, but it has been peaceful. Now Russia is trying to divide us, and it is a terrible crime that will affect us for years to come.”
In the Crimean town of Bakhchysaray, a political and cultural center for minority Tatars, several polling places were crammed with enthusiastic voters first thing Sunday morning. However, most appeared to be ethnic Russians, while several Tatars in the street said they would not vote.
“We’re getting a lot more voters than usual, for so early in the day. Many say they have been waiting for this moment a long time,” said Galina Krivsova, a volunteer official at one polling station and a Russian language teacher. “A lot of older people remember the Soviet times, when it was easier to get apartments and other things. They want to go back.”
Krivsova, like other poll workers in Bakhchysaray, was cordial to journalists, and the voting appeared to be orderly and efficient. The room was crowded and noisy with people asking questions, but officials with ledgers checked every ID card against lists and then guided voters to booths surrounded by cloth. A man guarded a large plexiglass box where people dropped their ballots. All those easily visible had check marks in the first of two boxes, which signified support of annexation to Russia.
“I was born here when this was part of Russia, so I feel comfortable with Russia, and I voted for Russia,” said a retired soldier and school worker, 65, who gave his name as Yuri. He predicted that many of his Tatar neighbors would vote for annexation despite the boycott because they depend on tourism for a living.
“The best and richest tourists who come here are from Russia,” he said.
A few blocks away, a Tatar cafe manager snorted when asked if he planned to vote.
“No way,” Leonor Osmanov, 50, said with a dismissive wave. “Russia has spread a lot of lies, but we are all able to organize our lives perfectly well in Ukraine. Our parents survived deportation, and we will survive this, too. We will defend Ukraine, not with weapons but with our voices.”
Polls open to singing
Security at polling places varied widely. At some schools there was virtually none. At others, soldiers wearing full-face balaclava masks and armed with Kalashnikov rifles guarded entrances.
Few voters bothered to fold their ballots before dropping them in see-through boxes, and every visible ballot showed a check mark for ballot question one — to join Russia. The other option is greater autonomy for Crimea, while technically remaining within Ukraine.
When polls opened at School 60 in Sevastopol, a group of about 20 voters carrying Sevastopol flags and singing the city anthem trooped in to applause from other voters. Mothers came to vote with their children, who carried Russian flags or had Russian ribbons tied to their jacket sleeves.
Turnout at School 60, where 3,485 people are registered, has ranged from crowded to jampacked, said elections official Tatyana Karpenko.
“It’s been a very long wait — 23 years,” said Nikolai Papanyan, 31, after voting to join Russia. “Before, we elected politicians who promised to move closer to Russia. Now we’re doing it ourselves.”
Karen DeYoung in Washington and Griff Witte in London contributed to this report.
