Donetsk's pro-Russian activists prepare referendum for 'new republic'

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/08/donetsk-pro-russian-activists-referendum-ukraine

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Irina Grinenko rushed through the barbed-wired barricades and into the occupied regional administration building in Donetsk, rolls of toilet paper in one hand and a bag of bandages in the other.

"If they attack us, I will bandage people," the pro-Russian protester said, adding that she expected an assault by non-local law enforcement personnel.

"We will be here until the end, until they beat us out or meet our demands … I want an autonomous region on good terms with Russia," she added.

Pro-Russian protesters built new barricades and dug in for a long occupation of the administration building on Tuesday, readying themselves for expected "provocations" by Ukrainian police or demonstrators sympathetic to the Euromaidan protests and to the new government in Kiev.

Meanwhile, a loosely organised temporary government inside the building began laying the groundwork for a referendum on the "sovereignty" of the newly declared Donetsk republic, which it plans to hold simultaneously with similar referendums in Lugansk and Kharkiv some time before 11 May.

At a session on Tuesday afternoon, the temporary body declared illegitimate the regime that had "violently usurped" the government in February, and announced it was firing all the officials it had appointed in Donetsk.

The statement, which was later read to protesters outside the building amid cries of approval, also demanded the Kiev regime removed all its forces from the Donetsk republic and returned political prisoners it said had been abducted.

The ill-defined but collegiate new leadership, which says the Kiev regime is dominated by radical nationalists and has ignored popular demands for a referendum in Donetsk, also unanimously approved – through a quick show of hands – heads of the administration building's defence and a new electoral commission.

"The situation in the region is critical," said Denis Pushilin, chairman of the temporary government, shortly after meeting a law enforcement official. "We want to avoid bloodshed."

Police had demanded that the protesters turn in weapons which they did not have, he said. Many of the young men in the building were carrying pipes and improvised clubs, but no knives or firearms could be seen in areas accessible to journalists.

Pushilin said 800 protesters had occupied the building overnight. Roman Romanenko, a former paratrooper and coal miner who was appointed to head the defence of the building, told the Guardian he had more than 1,000 men under his command.

Kiev has blamed Russia for organising separatist uprisings in eastern Ukraine, where protesters seized government buildings in Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkiv over the weekend.

Speaking of the takeover of a building in Kharkiv, the interior minister, Arsen Avakov, blamed the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and the ousted Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovich, for financing the pro-Russian occupation.

Leaders in Donetsk denied they were in contact with the Russian government, and protesters said that no Russians had come to assist in the occupation.

But busloads of demonstrators from Russia reportedly had arrived in the city last month before clashes between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian protesters which had left one man dead and dozens of people wounded.

It remains unclear whether Donetsk would want greater autonomy within Ukraine or seek to join Russia.

The "people's deputy", Miroslav Rudenko, said the referendum was "to legitimise the declaration of the Donetsk republic" and would simply ask citizens if they "support the sovereignty of Donetsk". Rudenko was wearing a T-shirt reading "Free Pavel Gubarev", referring to the pro-Russian leader who declared himself governor of the region after separatists first seized the regional administration building on 3 March. He was later arrested by Ukrainian security services.

"In the future, I think regions in the south and east of Ukraine will announce their opposition to the Kiev regime and create their own federation," he said.

As the temporary government was meeting, chants of "Russia! Russia!" could be heard from the crowd outside, many of whom waved Russian flags. The word Russia had been painted on the side of the occupied building.

Protesters appeared to be preparing for a siege, with one speaker in front of the building declaring "there is no way back for us now". Masked men blocked off some floors with chairs and tables, while others went to the leadership on the top floor, one carrying a club, gas mask and box of chocolates. (Electricity has been cut off to the building, stopping the elevators.)

A few empty liquor bottles could be seen in the partially trashed building, after one woman at the temporary government session said 30 demonstrators were discovered drunk last night. Romanenko, however, said all alcohol had since been disposed of and declared that "vodka will not be drunk here".

Outside, lines formed among the hundreds gathered to pass ripped-up paving stones to fortify the barricades made of sandbags, tyres and barbed wire, which grew from one to three lines of defence by the end of the day.

Several dozen women responded to instructions shouted over a megaphone to form a line along the street in front of the building with the idea that pro-Kiev "provocateurs" would be less likely to use violence against them.

Artyom, an occupying protester who supported federalisation to allow Donetsk greater control over its affairs within Ukraine, said the situation could be solved through negotiations but that these "should be from a position of strength".

Alexander Stepantsov, standing outside, said: "We are standing here so the police don't attack us, so peaceful people will be here and there won't be any clashes."

He said he wanted Donetsk, the heart of the historical Donbas coalmining region, to gain more control over its budget under federalisation rather than send its earnings off to Kiev. But a patrolling policeman said they had no orders to interfere in the occupation.

"We're not planning to attack our own people no matter what," said one officer, who declined to provide his name.

Many protesters said they disagreed with the pro-European policies of the new Kiev government, which they claimed had harmed trade with Russia, Ukraine's leading export partner, which buys industrial goods produced largely in the east. Almost all noted a recent aborted attempt to cancel a federal law allowing regions to adopt other official languages alongside Ukrainian.

Grinenko said she wanted Donetsk to retain relations with Russia, which buys most of the machinery made by the Azovmash factory where her son and son-in-law work. Orders have dried up and 30% of workers have been fired as Ukraine prepares to finish signing an EU association agreement next month. "Russia is closer to my wallet and to my heart," she said.