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| Pro-Russian Separatists Hold Referendum in Eastern Ukraine - Wall Street Journal Posted: 11 May 2014 08:57 AM PDT May 11, 2014 7:23 a.m. ET DONETSK, Ukraine—Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine appeared to be on track to declare victory in a referendum Sunday that Kiev and the West say is illegal and riddled with irregularities. The vote ratchets up tensions between the Kremlin, which may recognize the vote, and the nascent government in Kiev, which is struggling to regain control of the two provinces that it says Moscow is destabilizing through support of rebels. Heavy turnout suggested that weeks of instability and violence in the region had helped turn simmering anger against Kiev into open defiance and separatism that polls showed barely existed earlier this year. Separatist leaders said they opened more than 1,500 voting stations across one province alone. In the coastal city of Mariupol, the scene of deadly clashes last week between separatists and Ukrainian soldiers, thousands of people turned out to join lines that stretched for city blocks, with some residents bringing lawn chairs to rest their legs as they waited. Amid an absence of electoral observers and a heavy presence of separatist gunmen patrolling the streets, the government in Kiev said the results of the vote are certain to be rigged. One Donetsk electoral official, Mikhail Samolenko, said Sunday there were no real safeguards to keep people from voting several times, but that it didn't matter "because everyone is voting yes" for independence. Separatists said they may release results as early as this evening. In Kiev, the government dismissed the voting Sunday as a sham. "Factually speaking, no 'referendum' is being held. It is nothing more than an information campaign to cover up crimes," said presidential administration chief Sergei Pashinsky at a briefing on Sunday. Nevertheless, separatists are expected to use the vote to declare a de facto divorce from Ukraine. That could lead to a descent into international isolation akin to the Russian-backed breakaway statelets in Moldova and Georgia. The West accuses Russia of fanning separatism and supporting such breakaway regions to weaken Georgia and Moldova, which were once Soviet satellites. The statelets are also a useful lever for Moscow, which has been able to wield influence in the Moldovan and Georgian governments by dangling the possibility that they may one day regain control over the breakaway regions. Russia has denied that it is behind the separatist movement Ukraine, although rebels have access to some sophisticated Russian weaponry, including shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles that have shot down Ukrainian helicopters. Instead Moscow blames Kiev for what it calls the extremist policies of the new government, which came to power hoping to forge closer ties to the European Union. Kremlin-controlled media, beamed into the mostly Russian-speaking regions in eastern Ukraine, refers to the government in Kiev as a junta that is heavily influenced by fascists. On Sunday, Margarita Simonyan, the head of Kremlin-funded propaganda channel Russia Today, tweeted that "Kiev has done all that it can to make sure everyone voted for [independence]. It already doesn't matter what Russia says." Until recently, the separatists would have little chance of winning a free and fair vote in the region, as polls show a majority wanted close ties to Russia but to remain part of Ukraine. But recent fighting between the government and separatists may have tipped many toward independence, hoping that it might at least lead to some stability. "Who likes it when a nation shoots at its own people?" asked retiree Natalia Vasileva, who cast her ballot in central Donetsk. "We weren't against being part of Ukraine, but after the latest events, we've changed our minds." Indeed, heavy fighting on the streets of Mariupol on Friday appeared to drive many of the residents onto the street to vote on Sunday. The fighting began when militants stormed the local police precinct, and Ukrainian troops stormed the building, interrupting the city's Victory Day parade to celebrate the defeat of Nazi Germany. Unleashing heavy gunfire on residential streets, Ukrainian soldiers eventually withdrew, leaving the precinct a burning wreck, and a handful of locals dead and wounded. Although it was the separatists who began armed confrontation in Mariupol, locals blamed the government for the ensuing violence. "We need to fence ourselves off from Kiev, they don't understand us, they just come and kill us," said an elderly woman named Natalia who arrived with friends and family, some of whom repeated the word "genocide" while she was speaking. Many residents didn't want to give their last names. For eastern Ukraine, whose heavy industries are dependent on exports, declaration of independence could thrust it into an international pariah status that would cripple its economy. Barring Crimea-style annexation by Russia, in which Moscow publicly has expressed no interest, the Donetsk People's Republic could find itself with crimped export markets and unemployment problems. Ukraine's interim president, Oleksandr Turchynov, assailed the vote as "self destruction." "This is a step into the abyss for these regions," he said in comments carried on his website. "Those who favor independence don't realize it means total destruction of the economy, social programs, even life for most people in these regions." He said the government was ready to hold talks with people from the eastern regions, but not those who have committed violence. The government has said it is working on a decentralization program that would hand more power to the regions to manage local affairs. But separatist leaders pushed ahead with the referendum anyway. Roman Lyagin, the election chief of the Donetsk People's Republic, said, "It's better to live in isolation than under occupations." In a last-minute push to boost voter numbers, activists at the commission grabbed stacks of paper reminding people where and when they could vote, setting off to deliver them to postboxes around town. Ukraine's central government, which has lost control of much of the region, did little to hinder the voting Sunday. For weeks, local police have failed to function as an effective force, and a concerted Ukrainian military operation against a rebel stronghold in the city of Slovyansk has failed to make much headway. Officials in Kiev say the announced results of the referendum will likely be lopsidedly for independence, in part because some of those who have openly declared loyalty to the Ukrainian have been brutalized or murdered. In Mariupol, dissenting voices were hard to find as those who opposed the separatist efforts mostly preferred to avoid the referendum. One elderly woman passing by the long line of voters got heckled and told to "go away" when she accused the voters of "betraying" Ukraine. "I came to look at this circus, organized under Russian television propaganda," said the woman, Nelly Boyarchenko. "It's so painful, my soul is aching, I'm a Ukrainian patriot," she said. "These people grew up here, they got an education here, and now they turn around and betray their country." Write to James Marson at james.marson@wsj.com, Philip Shishkin at philip.shishkin@wsj.com and Alan Cullison at alan.cullison@wsj.com |
| 1 still missing in deadly hot-air balloon crash - USA TODAY Posted: 11 May 2014 09:09 AM PDT More than 100 searchers are scouring the woods and fields of Virginia for one of the victims of a hot-air balloon that crashed in Caroline County Friday evening, killing two passengers The University of Richmond confirmed that associate head coach Ginny Doyle, 44, and Natalie Lewis, 24 were riding in the balloon. Pilot Daniel T. Kirk, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who served in the military for 37 years, had more than 30 years of ballooning experience, according to his father. The remains of two people were found about a mile apart. The incident happened after several hot-air balloons took off from Meadow Event Park as part of a special Friday preview for Saturday's Mid-Atlantic Balloon Festival. Two balloons landed safely, but as Kirk's balloon attempted to land, it struck a power line and burst into flames. "It contacted power lines, caught on fire and crashed in a wooded area," says Peter Knudson, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board. An air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board said a preliminary report would be released on the crash in 10 days. Heidi Moats, of the NTSB, said investigators were seeking records on the balloon and the pilot. Festival officials canceled Saturday's festival. The tragedy also casts a pall over the university's Sunday afternoon undergraduate commencement. "As alumnae, classmates, and colleagues – and as invaluable and devoted mentors for our student-athletes – Ginny and Natalie have been beloved members of our community," said President Edward L. Ayers in a statement. "Their leadership and friendship will endure in the lives of so many." Doyle who earned all-conference honors twice as a Richmond basketball player and held the NCAA women's record with 66 consecutive free throws until 2011. Before becoming associate coach at Richmond, she was an assistant college coach at Rhode Island and East Carolina. "Words cannot begin to express our sorrow," said Keith Gill, director of athletics. "We are all stunned by the tragic news. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their loved ones. A spokeswoman for Lewis' family, Julie Snyder, called Lewis "an amazing person and a strong person, an athlete engaged to be married." Lewis had a scholarship to swim at the University of Richmond and was a two-time team capitain. She was hired to direct the school's women's basketball operations after graduating in 2011, according to The Buffalo News. The newspaperreported that Lewis had been a star swimmer at Buffalo's Nardin Academy before attending the University of Richmond. Scott Vanderzell, her former coach with the Tonawanda Titans swimming program, said Lewis "was one of the elite swimmers to come out of Western New York." LIST: World's deadliest balloon crashes Investigators found some pieces of the balloon, but are still searching for major components, Knudson said late Saturday afternoon. Twenty balloonists from the Mid-Atlantic region were set to participate in the weekend festival, said Greg Hicks, a spokesman for Meadow Event Park. "It's just a shocking situation for everyone," Hicks said. Based on witness accounts, Kirk attempted to regain control of the balloon and manage the fire. At one point, the balloon's two passengers jumped from the basket. Witnesses recall hearing an explosion, and the fire continued to spread. The basket and the balloon then separated. "As soon as we looked up, the thing blew up right there," witness Debra Ferguson told The Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg, Va. "All I heard was, 'Oh my God, Oh my God,' and all you saw was the top of the balloon still flying, but all of the basket was gone. All of the flames just disappeared. ... It was like a match — poof — and then it was gone." Carrie Hager-Bradley said she saw the balloon in flames on her way home from the grocery store and heard people yelling, according to WWBT-TV. "They were just screaming for anybody to help them," the station quoted her as saying. "'Help me, help me, sweet Jesus, help. I'm going to die. Oh my God, I'm going to die,'" Hager-Bradley said she heard one person screaming. There have been hundreds of hot air balloon accidents in the U.S. and overseas, according to records from the National Transportation Safety Board. The majority aren't fatal. However, in February 2013, at least 19 people died after a hot air balloon flying over Luxor, Egypt's city of pyramids, caught fire and plunged down into a sugar cane field. "Ballooning is normally a very safe, routine activity," Glen Moyer, editor of Ballooning magazine, the in-house publication of the 2,200-member Balloon Federation of America said after the Luxor crash. "It's an activity that thousands of people participate in all the time and do so safely." Troy Bradley, former president of the Balloon Federation of America, said most serious balloon accidents - including fires, electrocution or baskets becoming severed - happen after hitting power lines. Most of the time it's due to pilot error, he said. In the U.S., hot air balloons -- which use propane gas to heat the air that rises into the balloon and lifts it -- are built to standards approved by the FAA, Moyer said. In order to get a license, pilots must demonstrate a proficiency in emergency skills as well as the ability to operate the balloon. They then must go through a flight review every two years, he said. Contributing: Robin Webb, Laura Petrecca, Donna Leinwand Leger; Gary Strauss Associated Press |
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