As pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine prepared to hold a referendum on whether to declare their independence on Sunday, acting President Oleksander Turchinov warned that a “yes” vote could mean self-destruction.
The vote will be held in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where pro-Russian separatists have occupied government buildings in a number of towns, and have taken complete control of the city Slaviansk. The referendum has been dismissed by Ukraine’s government and other Western countries as illegitimate.
“Those who stand for self-rule do not understand that it would mean complete destruction of the economy, social programmes and life in general for the majority of the population in these regions,” Turchinov said in a statement published on his website Saturday.