SLAVIANSK, Ukraine, April 29 (RIA Novosti) – Authorities in eastern Ukraine’s Slaviansk have ordered the printing of ballots in preparation for an upcoming referendum on the future of the region, a spokesman for the local city council said Tuesday.
According to the spokesman, the ballots for the May 11 referendum will ask voters if they support the April 7 declaration of independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic, a self-proclaimed state in eastern Ukraine.
The decision to print the ballots was announced at a session of the city council in Slaviansk, the first since the city was taken under control by federalization supporters on April 12.
The city council also approved the formation of an official local militia, expected to be formed from the current self-defense forces.
Slaviansk is a city of 138,000 in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk Region. According to official data, some 55 percent of the city’s residents use Russian as their native language, while 44 percent said they mainly speak Ukrainian.
