PETRIVSKE, Ukraine — Two separatist rump states in eastern Ukraine are holding elections that they hope will cement their burgeoning de facto statehood, despite glaring irregularities, a swell of international condemnation, and growing fears of a fresh Russia-backed offensive.
Though the elections have no chance of winning formal recognition, the apparently high turnout and the ease with which rebels held them underscored Ukraine’s loss of control over parts of Donetsk and Luhansk provinces after months of war.
Moscow, however, has vowed to respect the vote, which the Kremlin says is the only chance locals have to secure legitimate representation.
Polling stations across the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republic saw long lines, despite cold, miserable weather.
The large crowds across both territories may, however, have also been caused by the fact that were five times fewer polling stations than at slapdash independence referendums held in May.
Rebels claimed this was because Ukraine subsequently reclaimed parts of Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, which the separatists refer to as "occupied territories" they intend to reclaim.
Months of war, which displaced over a million people and considerably lowered locals' enthusiasm to join Russia, most likely also played a role.
Locals overwhelmingly blame Kiev for often indiscriminate shelling and rocket fire that has killed over 4,000 people, destroyed thousands of homes, and severely damaged crucial infrastructure, leaving many towns without electricity, heat, and running water.
Ukraine also stopped paying pensions, benefits, and public officials' salaries in the summer, but has provided little in the way of humanitarian aid, leaving many dependent on supplies sent illegally across the border by Russia.
Some polling stations sold voters vegetables and pies for 1 hryvnia (8 cents) — for many, the first proper food they had eaten in months.
Many other people stood in long lines regardless, reflecting the high degree of antipathy for the Ukrainian government here.
"I changed my mind because of the war," Larissa Rudenko, 47, told BuzzFeed News outside an abandoned house being used as a polling station in the bombed-out village of Petrivske. "We never really said we wanted to go to Russia, but since then everyone's been touched by this."