SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (Reuters) – Pro-Russian leaders in Crimea made final preparations yesterday for a referendum widely expected to transfer control of the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine to Moscow, despite the threat of sanctions and condemnation from Western governments.
Today’s vote, dismissed by Kiev as illegal, has triggered the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War, and ratcheted up tensions not only in Crimea but also eastern Ukraine, where two people were killed in clashes late on Friday.
The streets of the Crimean capital of Simferopol were calm yesterday, despite a heavy military presence incongruous with the normally sleepy town.
In Sevastopol, where Moscow leases the port for its Black Sea Fleet, pro-Russian activists held a patriotic concert in the town’s main square. The centre of the town was lined with billboards telling NATO in crude terms to keep its nose out of the town’s affairs.
A Reuters reporter visiting a polling station in a school there saw pro-Russian campaign material inside the voting area, considered a violation of election rules in many countries.
Most of Crimea’s electorate of 1.5 million is expected to choose joining Russia in the referendum, reflecting the territory’s ethnic Russian majority.
