Pro-Russian Separatist in Eastern-Ukraine Begin Vote on Self-Rule

Pro-Russian activist in eastern Ukraine have held their referendum on greater autonomy from Ukraine, despite warnings from Kiev and the West that the vote was illegal and Russian President Vladimir Putin asking that it be postponed.

According to separatist officials, there was a 70% turnout in the Donetsk region-- there was no confirmation of this report.

Roman Lyagin, head of the self-proclaimed Donestsk People's Republic election commission, boasted higher claims, saying that there had been a turnout of nearly 75% and that 89% voted in favour of self-rule.

But are these reports true?  Well neither I or anyone else can say for sure yet.  However, it is important to note that a recent survey by Pew Research Center originally found that 70% of those in eastern Ukraine wished for their country to stay united.

Now there is a catch to this, and that is that those statistics come only from those who answered to the survey's questions.  If, for example, only 10 out of 100 eastern Ukrainians answered the survey, and 7 out of the 10 wished for Ukraine to stay united but the other 90 people that didn't vote wanted to separate from Ukraine, then the survey would obviously give false statistics.

And this could very well turn be the case if the separatist leaders' claims turn out to be true.

However, there is a catch to this: Voters can seemingly vote more than once in different regions (or even in the same region).  How? you may ask.

It's simple, the voting stations are terribly unorganized.  The polling stations are so terribly organized that at some locations people vote at the registration desks.

Sergei Babin, chairman of Mariopol's voting station, stated that the separatist officials had made sure to avoid this problem by writing down the names of voters at polling stations and then comparing the lists of names.

If this referendum results in most of eastern Ukraine,  it would be "a step towards the abyss", Ukraine's interim President Olexandr Turchynov has stated.

The West has warned of similar consequences as well as threatening Russia with further sanctions to damage its already weak economy.

Russian officials, however, reported a few weeks ago that the sanctions that have been applied to them have caused little damage to their nation's economy.  This could just be a bluff as U.S. officials have contradicted Moscow by citing reports proving the sanctions to have damaged the Russian economy.

What the future of Ukraine holds continues to unveil itself.  If one thing is certain, it is that the path Ukraine is taking is a highly dangerous one that could result in a deadly civil-war.

Donestk separatist leader Denish Pushilin stated that if the vote for self-rule in eastern Ukraine wins, then the Ukrainian military forces in that region we be considered "occupying forces".  And that could easily and quickly worsen the crisis.