Pro-Russia Ukraine regions threaten split after disputed vote

Ukraine's pro-Russia regions threatened to split off from the European-leaning west of the country after a disputed presidential vote that has left Moscow and Western capitals glowering at each other across a Cold War-like divide, Shenzhen Daily reported Tuesday.

The heated meeting in the eastern region of Lugansk, a support base for Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, came a day before the supreme court is to hear an opposition appeal over results of the Nov. 21 presidential run-off that said Yanukovich won by some 1 million votes.

Pro-Western opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko claims the government helped rig the election in favor of his rival and is asking the court to either order a recount or a new vote.

Opposition leaders demanded President Leonid Kuchma immediately sack Yanukovich and the leaders of the separatist regions, and warned they would intervene if their call for a new election was not accepted by Monday.

Ukraine's Yanukovich bastions in the southeast have warned that they would declare greater autonomy if their candidate fails to become president, fanning fears that the crisis could split the former Soviet republic.

Yanukovich met some 3,500 local officials from 17 of Ukraine's 27 regions—which make up two-thirds of the country's population of 48 million—and warned that the country was heading toward an imminent collapse, denouncing a vote in parliament Saturday proclaiming the election invalid.

"Either we are capable of preserving the stability and peace in our state, or everything will collapse and very rapidly," he told a meeting of Ukraine's Russian-speaking regions where local officials demanded autonomy.

The regional leaders then said they would hold a vote on "self-defense"—a euphemism for autonomy—should Yushchenko come to power.

"In the worst-case scenario of the political situation in the country, we will be united and decisive in defending the will of the Ukrainian people, including holding a referendum on a possible change in the administrative and territorial status of Ukraine," their group said in a resolution.

"In case the state coup continues and the illegitimate president comes to power" the eastern regional chief said they "reserved the right to take adequate measures of self-defense."

The strategic coal mining region of Donetsk became the first region to set an autonomy vote by scheduling a Dec. 15 referendum on whether to proclaim itself a "republic."

Meanwhile in Kiev, tens of thousands of opposition protestors streamed into central Independence Square, which has turned into a week-long political demonstration mixed with a rocking street party in Yushchenko's support.

Yushchenko told his followers that the Russian-speaking regions allied with Moscow had to be punished for threatening to break off.

"We demand the opening of a criminal inquiry against the separatist governors," Yushchenko, wearing an opposition orange scarf to protect himself from the freezing cold, told the orange flag-waving masses below him.

Later opposition lawmaker Yulia Timoshenko called on Kuchma to sack Yanukovich and governors of separatist regions.

"We give him 24 hours to do that," she said.

Earlier the outgoing president said in televised remarks that a compromise over the crisis was needed to avoid "unforeseeable consequences" but the compromise still seemed a long way off.

"The negotiations are very difficult and it is difficult to say whether or not a compromise can be reached," he told a security council meeting.

The country's SBU security service that succeeded the Soviet-era KGB later issued a statement vowing to "fulfill its responsibilities to protect the constitutional order and territorial integrity of Ukraine."

The supreme court hearing on Monday comes after parliament backed opposition claims that the November 21 poll did not reflect the will of the voters in a non-binding vote that some said could influence the judges.

At stake is the future direction of this nation of 48 million after 13 years of independence. Yanukovich favors retaining traditional ties to Moscow while Yushchenko backs turning toward the West.

The vote has exacerbated historical tensions between Ukraine's west—nationalist, Ukrainian-speaking and once part of Poland with a large Uniate Catholic population—and its east—industrialized, Russian-speaking, mostly Orthodox and with strong cultural ties to its giant neighbor.

Ukraine's geography—the nation stretches along much of Russia's western border and hugs much of the Black Sea's northern coast—has assured intense interest in its internal affairs in foreign capitals from Moscow to Washington.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has backed Yanukovich, twice traveling to Ukraine to meet with his candidate in well publicized photo opportunities prior to both rounds of the presidential election.

Russian oil and gas pipelines run through Ukraine and Kiev is a steady consumer of arms from Moscow's military complex.

Meanwhile Washington and the European Union have lined up behind opposition and Western observers' claims that the election was marred by widespread fraud and have urged Ukraine's authorities to "review" the official vote results.

The EU's new members Hungary, Poland and Slovakia border Ukraine and the West sees the nation as a buffer state against an increasingly authoritarian Russia.

Western capitals say they are simply standing up for democracy in a neighbor.

But Moscow has angrily accused the West of fomenting unrest to wrest Ukraine from Russia into its sphere of influence.