- Title: UKRAINE: 'Eastern Battalion' shoots into air at Donetsk pro-Russia rally
- Date: 25th May 2014
- Summary: SIGN READING IN RUSSIAN 'IN MEMORY OF THE FIGHTERS OF THE EASTERN BATTALION' PEOPLE ON STAGE BEHIND BANNER CALLING ON KIEV AUTHORITIES TO BE BROUGHT TO COURT VARIOUS OF PEOPLE HOLDING PHOTOGRAPHS OF MILITIA MEMBERS KILLED IN CLASHES VARIOUS OF PEOPLE OBSERVING MOMENT OF SILENCE PRIME MINISTER OF SO-CALLED 'DONETSK PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC', ANDREI BORODAI, TALKING ON STAGE, TELL
- Embargoed: 9th June 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Ukraine
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: Conflict,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAA90W8IOX10PQQVIFKBI16YH8B
- Story Text: Dozens of members of the pro-Russian "Eastern Battalion" shot automatic weapons into the air on Sunday (May 25) in the centre of Donetsk to the delight of people gathered at a rally to protest the presidential election and call Kiev authorities to account for the deaths of militia members killed in clashes with government forces.
Women embraced the battalion members, kissing their masked faces and handing them flowers, before the men lined up and fired into the sky. Several men then stooped to pick up the shells falling from the guns' magazines.
At the rally held under the towering statue of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin, protesters waved Russian and Donbass area flags and chanted, "Russia".
People held photographs of pro-Russian separatists killed in clashes in the country's southeast, and a banner on stage called on Ukraine's new leaders to be brought to court.
The prime minister of the newly-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic said he hoped the Southeast of Ukraine would unite and join Russia.
He criticised the day's presidential poll, which he and separatists say is pointless.
"As far as I know, the election isn't happening at all. Polling stations aren't open. People didn't come. I'm talking about the whole region except in those territories controlled by our enemies. There's probably an imitation going on there," said Andrei Borodai.
Ukrainians were set to give a resounding endorsement to the overthrow of their last elected leader by voting on Sunday for presidential candidates promising close ties with the West in defiance of Russia's Vladimir Putin.
But the absence of over 15 percent of the electorate, in Russian-annexed Crimea and two eastern regions where fighting with pro-Moscow rebels continued on Saturday (May 24), may mar any result - and leave the Kremlin questioning the victor's legitimacy, for all President Putin's new pledge to respect the people's will.
Voting began in most of Ukraine at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) and will end 12 hours later, when exit polls will indicate a result ahead of an official outcome on Monday (May 26). But many voters in the Russian-speaking east will find polling stations shut.
European election monitors largely pulled out of Donetsk region for their own safety, citing a campaign of "terror" by pro-Russian separatists against Ukrainian electoral officials. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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