Voters in eastern Ukraine head to the polls Sunday to cast ballots in a contested sovereignty referendum that could peel away more territory and move it closer to Moscow. Pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk, who have engaged in deadly gun battles with Ukrainian security forces in recent weeks, insisted on holding the vote despite objections from international observers. Even Russian President Vladimir Putin last week called for the referendum to be postponed due to concerns about its legitimacy.
Early reports say there are long lines and chaotic scenes at some polling stations, with armed men in military fatigues spooking locals into voting. There have also been scattered reports of possible election fraud. ABC News snapped an image of a woman appearing to cast two ballots at once, while the BBC reported that a man not registered to vote at a polling place was allowed to do so anyway.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Gabbard fires intelligence chiefs after Venezuela reportspeed read Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has fired the top two officials leading the National Intelligence Council
-
Trump vows to lift Syria sanctionsspeed read The move would help the new government stabilize the country following years of civil war
-
Senate rejects Trump's Library of Congress takeoverspeed read Congress resisted the president's attempts to control 'the legislative branch's premier research body'
-
Hamas frees US hostage in deal sidelining Israelspeed read Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier, was the final living US citizen held by the militant group
-
White Afrikaners land in US as Trump-declared refugeesspeed read An exception was made to Trump's near-total ban on admitting refugees for the white South Africans
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideastspeed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney postspeed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff dealspeed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
