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Ukraine separatists elect leaders in defiance of West

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DONETSK: Voters in rebel-held eastern Ukraine on Sunday elected new leaders after the assassination of a top separatist as Kiev urged the West to slap new sanctions on Russia. In the Donetsk and Lugansk “People’s Republics” in Ukraine’s industrial east, voters headed to polling stations amid tightened security, with gun-toting, camouflage-clad soldiers deployed to ensure order. Campaign posters around the Donetsk rebel stronghold called on people to vote “with Russia in your heart.” Washington and Brussels have asked Russia not to hold what they call “illegal” polls, saying will they further hamper efforts to end a conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people since 2014.


The US embassy in Ukraine said the “sham ‘elections’ will benefit only Russian proxies in eastern Ukraine, not the Ukrainian people.”


But Moscow says the elections are necessary to fill a power vacuum after top rebel Alexander Zakharchenko was killed in a bombing at a Donetsk café in August.


Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told residents of eastern Ukraine to snub the vote.


“Do not participate in fake elections!” he said late on Saturday, claiming separatist leaders were Russian-controlled “puppets.” The Ukrainian foreign ministry on Sunday urged the West to slap new sanctions against Moscow.


“We are calling on the international community to ramp up political and economic pressure on the Kremlin,” the ministry said.


The heads of the rebel regions rejected Kiev’s criticism.


“It’s a free country, we live according to our laws,” said Leonid Pasechnik, the 48-year-old acting leader of the republic of Lugansk, after casting his vote.


The acting head of the Donetsk republic, Denis Pushilin, a 37-year-old former operator of a notorious Russian Ponzi scheme, urged people to vote en masse.


“We are choosing our future,” said the former negotiator with Kiev who succeeded Zakharchenko.


While several candidates are running in each of the two regions, Pushilin and Pasechnik — both of whom have promised to seek tighter ties with Moscow — were expected to sail to victory. — AFP


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