10:50
16.3.2014
Crimean authorities quoted by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service say 30 percent of those eligible have already voted.
Утверждается, что в Крыму 30 процентов уже проголосовали. #референдум #Крым
— Радио Свобода (@SvobodaRadio) March 16, 2014
10:52
16.3.2014
Don't forget, our Ukrainian Service is live-blogging the referendum day, too (in Ukrainian).
Крим: «референдум», в якому все вирішено заздалегідь? Наживо - http://t.co/kvkTKGLGAJ pic.twitter.com/Ptny9oySGq
— Радіо Свобода (@radiosvoboda) March 16, 2014
11:06
16.3.2014
RFE/RL Ukraine Service's live video feed from Kharkhiv:
11:12
16.3.2014
Referendum In Crimea
Voting began on March 16 in a disputed referendum in Crimea, the Ukrainian region currently occupied by Russian troops, where inhabitants are being asked whether the peninsula should secede and become part of the Russian Federation or remain in Ukraine. The Ukrainian government and Western states say the vote is "illegitimate," while Moscow insists it is "in line with international law."
11:16
16.3.2014
Kyiv's Inter Television quoting Refat Chubarov, Crimea's chief mufti and the current head of the Mejlis, as saying Crimean Tatars are boycotting the referendum:
"We Crimean Tatars have never taken part in clown shows and circuses," he says.
"We Crimean Tatars have never taken part in clown shows and circuses," he says.
11:32
16.3.2014
Interfax quoting pro-Russia Crimean leader Sergei Askyonov as saying turnout near "45 to 50 percent" throughout the peninsula.
11:38
16.3.2014
Crimea's pro-Russia leader Sergei Aksyonov told Russia 24 Television that the Crimean Supreme Council (Eds. which the Ukrainian parliament in Kyiv dissolved on March 15) will hold a session at 10:00 a.m. on March 17 to adopt the referendum results.
11:57
16.3.2014
EuroMaidan points out this unique voting cabinet:
Какое оригинальное оформление кабинок.А не запрещена ли агитация в день референдума? Хотя там посчитано еще вчера... pic.twitter.com/9lTnHAuvI7
— Євромайдан (@Dbnmjr) March 16, 2014
12:00
16.3.2014
"According to the information from polling stations, people are lining up. We have not had this kind of high activity from so early in the morning since Soviet times."
-- Crimean Electoral Commission head Mikhail Malyshev, as quoted by Reuters during a news conference in Simferopol
-- Crimean Electoral Commission head Mikhail Malyshev, as quoted by Reuters during a news conference in Simferopol
12:03
16.3.2014
Reuters speaks to voters in Simferopol:
"There has been no improvement over 20 years. Now we expect it. Everybody is expressing their will now. And the will of the people should be a sacred thing, not the will of the government that creates laws to suit themselves."
"It is such a festive day! I am so happy that I want to cry. My sister is 75 years old, she was born in the Soviet Union, and -- can you imagine -- all this time she has been dreaming to die in Russia. And now her dream has come true."
"There has been no improvement over 20 years. Now we expect it. Everybody is expressing their will now. And the will of the people should be a sacred thing, not the will of the government that creates laws to suit themselves."
-- Vitaly
"It is such a festive day! I am so happy that I want to cry. My sister is 75 years old, she was born in the Soviet Union, and -- can you imagine -- all this time she has been dreaming to die in Russia. And now her dream has come true."
-- Lyudmila