Pro-Russia protesters gather in front of trade union building to show referendum support скачать в хорошем качестве

Pro-Russia protesters gather in front of trade union building to show referendum support

(11 May 2014) Hundreds of pro-Russia protesters gathered in front of the trade union building in Odessa on Sunday to show their support for the referendums being held in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Crowds chanted and held banners reading "we don't ask for referendum, we demand it" in front of the building that was set on fire on May 2. The ballots, which Ukraine and the West have rejected as illegal, seek approval for declaring so-called sovereign people's republics in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where rebels have seized government buildings and clashed with police and Ukrainian troops over the past month. "I actually support a federative system of the state in Ukraine, it's been needed here for a long time", said Oleksei Nezhyvenko, who attended the gathering. "At least for the last 10 years people have been constantly talking about the need for a federative state here", he added. Meanwhile, people added to the mass of floral tributes at the trade union building, in memory of the 31 people killed in the fire. The hastily arranged ballots are similar to the March referendum in Crimea that approved secession from Ukraine. Crimea was formally annexed by Russia days later. But organisers of Sunday's vote have said that only later will a decision be made on whether they would use their nominal sovereignty to seek full independence, absorption by Russia or to stay part of Ukraine but with expanded power for the regions. Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of fomenting or even directing the unrest in the east, with the goal of destabilising Ukraine or finding a pretext for invasion. Russia has rejected the accusations. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...