Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk of Ukraine and European Council President Herman von Rompuy at the signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union on March 21 in Brussels.
On April 4, the Central Election Commission completed the registration of candidates for president of Ukraine. There were 23 of them, including seven nominated by political parties and 16 independents. The candidates nominated by their parties were: People’s Movement of Ukraine leader Vasyl Kuibida, Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko, Batkivshchyna leader Ms. Tymoshenko, Civil Position Party leader Anatoliy Grytsenko, Svoboda leader Mr. Tiahnybok, Ukrainian People’s Party leader Oleksandr Klymenko and Radical Party leader Oleh Liashko.
The violence continued in Ukraine’s east as pro-Russian activists took control of state buildings in several cities in early April. In Donetsk they declared an independent republic on April 7 and invited Russian soldiers to ensure a referendum on joining the Russian Federation, just as in Crimea three weeks earlier. Buildings were taken over also in such cities as Kharkiv, Luhansk and Mykolayiv. The Ukrainian government said the Russian government was responsible for inciting the violence. The Ukrainian government and media offered ample evidence that Mr. Putin had dispatched armed saboteurs to the Ukrainian mainland starting on April 12. As of April 17, 20 government buildings in the Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv oblasts were under rebel control.
Mr. Putin denied the presence of his forces in Ukraine, just as he had with Crimea a month earlier. Yet that didn’t stop him from revealing his plans for Ukraine during an April 17 live TV broadcast. He indicated that, at a minimum, he intended to separate the eight oblasts of southeastern Ukraine, a region that he dubbed “Novorossiya.” But he also hinted at the annexation of all of Ukraine, when he said that Ukraine and Russia were “part of a single space” and “a single people.”
Also on April 17, a joint statement was released in Geneva to address the crisis in Ukraine. Signed by Ukraine, Russia, the United States and the European Union, it was a vaguely worded agreement to end the violence, de-escalate tensions and restore security. “All illegal armed groups must be disarmed; all illegally seized buildings must be returned to legitimate owners; all illegally occupied streets, squares and other public places in Ukrainian cities and towns must be vacated,” the statement said. It contained not a word about the removal of Russian forces from Ukraine’s territory or the preservation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, nor did it address the annexation of Crimea.
And the violence continued. Peaceful protesters who advocated the unity of Ukraine were savagely attacked in Donetsk on April 28. The pro-Ukraine mayor of Kharkiv, Hennadii Kernes, survived an assassination attempt that same day. In Odesa, street fights broke out on May 2 between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian fighters and a blaze in the local trade unions building killed 31 of the pro-Russian camp who had taken refuge there, attacking the pro-Ukrainians with firearms and Molotov cocktails. The Odesa street fights were provoked by about 200 pro-Russian provocateurs, who attacked more than 1,000 peaceful pro-Ukrainian protesters – many of them Chornomorets Odesa soccer fans – with bats, chains and guns, pravda.com.ua reported. The pro-Russian forces swelled throughout the day, unrestrained by local police as they engaged in violence. Meanwhile, in Sloviansk, which had been taken over by pro-Russian fighters, the Ukrainian government launched an anti-terrorist operation (ATO).
On May 11, a “referendum” on sovereignty was held in the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts. Verkhovna Rada Chair and acting President Turchynov said on May 12 that only 24 percent of residents of the Luhansk Oblast and 32 percent in the Donetsk Oblast who had the right to vote had done so. Mr. Turchynov underlined that voting in many towns of the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts was not held at all. Mr. Turchynov stressed that the “referendum” was a farce that violated law. “This farce can have only one consequence: criminal responsibility for its organizers,” he added. RFE/RL cited ample evidence of ballot tampering and noted that voters were not even sure what they were voting for as the paper ballots asked if they support the “act of self-rule.” The “separatists” announced that the vote in the Donetsk Oblast was 89.07 for the Donetsk People’s Republic, while in the neighboring Luhansk region it was 96 percent for that local republic. They claimed voter turnout was around 75 percent in each oblast.
Pro-Russian forces in Ukraine’s east attempted to derail the May 25 presidential vote, but they were successful only in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Armed fighters took over half of the 12 district election commissions (DEC) in the Luhansk Oblast, preventing their functioning, reported the Central Election Commission. In the Donetsk Oblast , they took over six of 22 DECs, with five under threat of being captured. Kidnappings occurred of DEC chairs in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, where residents had been terrorized for weeks by armed pro-Russian separatists.
The presidential election was hailed by Western leaders as successful, free and fair. Mr. Poroshenko was elected as Ukraine’s fifth president, earning nearly 55 percent of the vote – enough to avoid a run-off with Ms. Tymoshenko, who got 13 percent of the vote. She was trailed by Mr. Liashko (Radical Party), 8.32 percent; Mr. Grytsenko (Civil Position Party), 5.48 percent; Sergey Tigipko (self-nominated), 5.23 percent; Mykhailo Dobkin (Party of Regions), 3.03 percent. Fifteen other candidates were on the ballot, barely registering support. Voter turnout was 60 percent, even with people in the Donbas being prevented from going to the polls. “This was the most important election in independent Ukraine’s history,” said a statement from the election-observing mission of the National Democratic Institute that was read at a May 26 press conference in Kyiv by its chair, Madeleine K. Albright. “By turning out to vote yesterday across the vast majority of the country, Ukrainians did more than elect a new president. They showed the world their commitment to sovereignty, unity and democracy.”