Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s Donetsk region barred people from voting in the presidential election.<br /><br />With several cities having declared themselves as independent “people’s republics” voting would have implied they were still part of Ukraine.<br /><br />Only about 20 percent of polling stations were working across the eastern area which normally has 3.3 million voters.<br /><br />In Kramatorsk not one was open.<br /><br />“Why elect the president of a foreign country? asked one man. “The presidential election is not happening here, no one prepared for it.”<br /><br />“To vote it’s necessary to go to another city. But to get there you need to go through a number of checkpoints manned by Ukrainian military and non-Ukrainian military,” said another local with his small son.<br /><br />Some Ukrainians in the east who tried to vote complained about being denied their democratic right.<br /><br />With the absence of more than 15 percent of the potential electorate from the ballot, it’s feared that Moscow will question the winner’s legitimacy.<br /><br />Last month Russian President Vladimir Putin branded eastern Ukraine as “New Russia”, however he has since then said he will respect the will of the voters.
