support from moscow from russian leaders for an necessary saying, so it remains to be seen whether donetsk people's republic follows the breakaway states of georgia and moldova into this international economic limbo, or whether some form of a crimea-style merger with russia is in the works. i don't think people have actually decided what to do here, or in moscow, for that matter. >> our reporter from "the wall street journal" joining us via skype from donetsk, thanks so much. >> my pleasure, thanks for having me. >>> defense secretary chuck hagel said today america will do all it can to help the nigerian government in its search for those 276 schoolgirls abducted by islamic extremists. but during an interview that aired this morning on abc, hagel set limits on the american role there. >> we're going to bring to bear every asset we can possibly use to help the nigerian government. >> i know one of the things people keep saying is, why wouldn't u.s. special operators go in and try to find the girls? >> yeah, well, i think you look at everything. but there's no intention at this point to be putting an

the newly appointed prime minister of the donetsk people's republic sees those tasked with organising the vote are quitting. >> translation: people are just leaving all the so-called polling station, the election commissions and going home. there's no pressure oar on them. it's -- pressure on them. it's simply. the elections are not good to anybody. >> the moscow born and raid leader said they will not use force. according to one group they are trying to do just that. >> six or 10 people come to the electoral commission. building the commission with guns, with some others, did said that now in donetsk it is a terror cell of donetsk republic, and it is unlegal to organise the election of ukraine. >> six out of 22 offices have been shut. we found one. the sign says that the electoral commission responsible for the city center polling distroict is not working. the gate is not locked, but no one is inside. >> while looking for someone to speak to, we found a sign of the flag, saying the offices inside have been sealed. >> life conditions as normal, the volatility of the region is not unno

this man declared himself the leader of the people's republic of donetsk. he's hailed the vote as a success. >> the legitimacy is reflected out. large for now we're awaiting the official reaction, especially from our brothers in russia. >> in the eastern city of maruipol, people waited in long lines to clash their ballots. a number of people died in clashes there on friday. the majority who voted voted in favor of breaking away from kiev. maruiupol e of understand they must vote for the referendum. look at all these people. are you in favor of the donetsk people's republic? [cheers] >> ukraine's interim government and western powers have called the vote illegal and their focus is turning to the national election set for may 25. >> joining us now is or our rrespondent kitty logan from donetsk. the separatist leader is saying he'll regard kiev's force as occupiers after the vote. what do you make of that? >> he made those statements this afternoon while the polls were still open. they have just closed. not surprisingly this is very much a referendum run by the

i traveled out of the self-proclaimed donetsk people's republic and headed back towards the west. at a checkpoint marking the start of government-controlled territory, i found oleg demchuk, the 17-year-old who i'd first met signing up to join right sector. >> when we were in kramatorsk, we shot at them and frightened them. then we left, and now they are hunting for nationalists. >> jones: he told me he'd received military training at a right sector camp in the east and had already seen action in the eastern town of kramatorsk. he claimed they'd attacked a building there occupied by separatists. >> the storming of the building started when we came out like this. i had a knife in my right hand and my pistol was hidden. we kicked in every door and threw in sound grenades. we warned them, "give up." we cleared them out, took prisoners. we killed a lot of them and they gave up. now we're waiting for a full-on attack on the separatists. we're waiting for the election of the new president. then they'll let us, together with the army, free these towns from these bandits who are terrorizin

only a few hundred are here to cheer on the leadership of the new self-declared donetsk people's republicarmed pro-russia activists claim 2.5 million people voted in the poll, far more than seems possible. with that exaggerated mandate, they made this request. >> based on the will of the people and in order to restore historical justice, we ask the russian federation to consider the absorbing of the donetsk people's republic into the russian federation. [applause] areas, theyoring also declared self-rule after an equally controversial poll. moscow continued to encourage them, calling for the referendums to be acted on, prompting this response from the interim prime minister of ukraine. >> russia should stop supporting terrorists. it should calling them to lay down arms and free the buildings they occupy. they should also stop funding them. then there will be calm in ukraine. >> where two men died in a polling day shooting yesterday, a reminder of the price being paid as this part of ukraine slowly falls apart. daniel sanford, bbc news, donetsk. >> for more on ukraine, i spoke with the for

>> reporter: well, as far as the self-dlanld donetsk people's republic is concern, they consider this area now completely independence of ukraine, but of course, kiev doesn't see it that way, and kiev believes that the general election on may 25th is the only way to resolve this crisis, so they're going to push ahead with the vote. but it's not clear, and it seems impossible to hold a vote under these conditions here. the regional administration building, which would normally be the hub of any vote, is now under barbed wire and barricades, taken over by masked men carrying arms. and there's checkpoints all across this region set up by pro-russian groups and ukrainian troops driving from here to another city can take hours longer now. so, in terms of actually getting a vote out on may 25th, it seems virtually impossible, but kiev says that's the only way to move ahead. >> it's fascinating, because what you have there is, essentially, a hostile takeover by these pro-russian rebels. a lot of the rest of the world considers this vote illegitim e illegitimate. what is vladimir putin doing?

some people using force. >> for us, this donetsk people's republic doesn't make sense. >> the central electoral commission says it's prepared with thousands of monitors on standby and is urging people to vote. one poll shows that in the east, more than 32% of people plan on staying home. and another 31% aren't sure who they will vote for or whether they will vote at all. they are stoking fears that unrest could continue past election day by fueling calls the outcome isn't representative. kim vinnell, al jazeera, dondon. >>> there is a third confirmed case of the deadly mers virus right here in the united states. the cdc says an illinois manifested positive two weeks after the first case was diagnosed. this is the very first time the virus appears to have jumped from one human to another on american soil. >>> coming up next, devastating floods in eastern europe drive thousands from their homes. >>> plus behind the scenes of a powerful documentary about syria airing at the cannes film festival. stay tuned. you are watching al jazeera america. >>> at least 25 peel have died across the ba

the leadership of the donetsk people's republic seems to be fluid. new people keep appearing.t's difficult, he said, to work out exactly who has the authority to make something stick. it's very interesting stuff. it feeds into what the acting prime minister is going to have to brief the european commission when he goes to brussels today. >>> the german foreign minister is in kiev meeting with the leadership there. what sort of reainsurance are they offering? >> reporter: well, he is offering the reassurance of the support of the european union. we saw on monday the european union extending sanctions, 13 more individuals, two more companies have been sanctioned by the european union in the wake of the annexation of crimea and the events here in the east of ukraine. so the german foreign minister came here, went to kiev and is apparently coming to eastern ukraine although i believe it might be odessa and he is basically offering the reassurance that the european union staningz four square behind the kiev government. what he said was, in reply, mr. yatsenyuk, that it's not kiev w

for the people's republic of donetske. the poll shows a great many people. >> i just want this to end. i don't want to go anywhere. i like it here. i've liked it for 21 years. >> reporter: but with voters in two eastern regions now claiming near total support for separation, the voices of opposition have effectively been silenced. jonah hull, al jazeera, donetske. >> and while ukraine is dealing with the crisis in the eastern regions the country may soon be out of gas. gazprom says it will give the country a bill for the month of june tomorrow. gazprom officials say if they don't get paid by june 3 russia will cut off gas sports. they say ukraine owes them more than $3.5 billion. log on to aljazeera.com, show a time line of evangelists there, all at aljazeera.com. >>> turn to relentless severe weather, tornadoes ripping through the nation's heart land. meteorology dave warren, dave are we going to see more and more of these storms? >> yes, as a matter of fact we already have severe weather moving through. severe weather are

kim vinnell, al jazeera donetsk. >> eighteen people have den detained in connection with last week's deadly mine collapse in it turkey. executives from the mining people and 303 people were killed when an explosion caused that mine to collapse. the incidents have caused outrage from the government and the mining industry all due to a lack of safety measures. >> tens of thousands of protesters gathered in seoul voicing outrage of how the government handled last month's ferry disaster. during a candle ite villagial ill, many chand take responsibility and give our children back. they want the government to find 19 passengers who are still missing and to figure out exactly what caused that ferry to sink killing 270 people, many of whom were high school students. >> raising the minimum wage continues to be a hot button issue right here in the united states, but voters in switzerland today rejected a proposal to raise the minimum wage to $25 an hour. al jazeera's nazu mojiri takes us to the front lines of that debate. >> on the shores of lake zurich, this restaurant is one of many new busi

around 70% of people do not want to leave ukraine. >> the election is held in donetsk and luhansk. with a combined population of 6. million people. only those in areas under separatist control will be able to vote. we have this report from donetsk. >> the voters of eastern ukraine are encouraged to see their country in stark turns. blood-thirsty ultra nationalists in kiev waging war on the communities of donetsk and its surrounds. the only answer a tick for yes to the idea of their own people's republic. opinion polls suggest that popular support for the idea is low. we found it divided at level. >> translation: i'll vote yes in the referendum. i want peace. i don't want to west to come here, shooting at our kids. >> i'm not going to vote. of course it will have an impact on us. >> i won't go and vote. it's not that i support it, i don't find the referendum legitimate. >> neither does the government in kiev. there doesn't seem to be much it can do to stop polling stations from opening. >> the head of the central election commission of the people's republic of donetsk says the refere

by all public responsibilities in the city, from all sides including representatives of the donetske people'slic. >> reporter: but it appears the message hasn't gotten through. the governor of the self declared peoples republic of donetske, say, they are also being kept out of the loop. some of them support the donetske people's republic, others want more say in the fate of their city. >> translator: people want information because right now we don't have any. all the information coming from kyiv are distorted, they state facts but put their own spin on them. >> reporter: accused the steel companies of using them for a pr exercise. the patrols are a visible force with 20,000 steel workers signed up to take part and with hundreds of thousands employed by the metal and mining industry in the region they could well steer the course of this conflict. kim vanel al jazeera mariopole. >> leaders of the sprem council in the province of donetske have demanded that all ukrainian troops leave the area within 24 hours. that was ignored. >> worried about a rebel deadline they certainly weren't showing it.

refuses to reckon with the current government in kiev or it successor. >> in the territory of the donetsk people'sepublic, there cannot be people's elections. it is not right. it is illogical and will destabilize the region. we will disrupt any attempt to have presidential elections in our region on may 25. >> but he has a firm response to this thinly veiled threat. >> this person who calls himself chairman of their central election commission is not referring to any material law. even their own law. even the law of the country they made up. they do not have a constitution. they don't have a state. all their actions are totally illegitimate. >> election officials say they believe local people internet -- in donetsk do want to vote, but we found little enthusiasm for an election. >> for me, they have no meaning. i don't plan to vote. i don't know what to say. the illegitimate government wants some elections. >> people here may not even be able to get to polling stations. with many roads cut off by fighting or improvised blockades, it would be difficult to hold an election. a few hundred kilometers

you see people here in moscow extremely enthusiastic. got it. okay. donetsk is the area where the people here are from. everybody is voting yes to break the autonomy. and of course, that leads to later on down the line to perhaps a union with russian which of course is what people here in eastern ukraine want. many others want to say within a federal ukraine. errol? >> there you have it. we can see and hear all the enthusiasm. i see finger wagging as well, as some expats from ukraine vote in today's referendum. thank you very much. >>> all right. moving on to other stories now, protesters clash with police in the streets of caracas on saturday. they demanded the release of 200 people detained in protest against the president. police used tear gas to disburse the crowd. >>> and less than a week after shinalack was ousted, they say installing an unelected leader could lead to civil war. >>> in south africa defense attorneys for oscar pistorius say they could wrap up their case as early as tuesday. kelly phelps was asked about the coming weeks. >> reporter: we'r

a lot of people who told us they didn't agree with the idea of separation, didn't realise the donetsk people or the lugansk people's republic who have been self-proclaimed two weeks ago. they felt a lot of them that the candidates that were in this presidential election did not represent them and many people said "i want to be part of ukraine, but certainly these are more of the same. they blamed the candidates for the state of affairs in the east, and said they have been ignored since the former president viktor yanukovych had been ousted and they blamed them for the things that have engulfed this region. you find less and less on the street who are willing open to tell you their opinion, you have to go to a side road and then they speak to you. >> interesting. lots of grievances they be in that part of the ukraine. that's hoda abdel-hamid. that's north-west of donetsk in the east of ukraine. let's move to other news and there are more anti-coup demonstrations in thailand where people are taking to the streets, despite a warning from the army chief not to join the demonstrations. >> i want

the newly appointed prime minister of the donetsk people's republic say those tasked with organising the vote are quitting. >> people are just leaving all the so-called polling stations, the election commissions and going whom. there's no pressure -- going home. there's no pressure on them. the elections are not interesting to anybody. >> the moscow born and raised leader told me his troops will not use force. according to an election monitoring group, they are trying to do just that. >> 10 people come to the commission. they come with guns and said that now in donetsk you have - it is the territory of the donetsk republic, and it is illegal to organise president election of ukraine. >> reporter: six out of 22 electoral offices have been shut down in the donetsk region. we found one. the sign says that the electoral commission responsible for the city's center polling district is not working. the gates are not locked. there's no one inside. >> while looking for someone to speak to, we found a sign with the flag. donetsk people's republic. it says the offices inside have been sealed. t

the newly appointed prime minister for donetsk people' republic say those tasked with organising the vote are quitting. >> translation: people are leaving the polling station, the election commissions and going home. there's no pressure on them. it's simple. the elections are not interesting to anybody. >>> the moscow born and raised leader told me his troops will not use force to stop the vote. but according to an election monitoring group, they are trying to do that. >> 10 people come to the electoral commission. with their guns. and said that now in donetsk it is a territory of donetsk republic, and it is illegal to organise president election of ukraine. >> reporter: six out of 22 electoral offices in the region have been shot says. this station here is not working. it is unlocked, but no one is inside. whilst looking for someone we found a flag of the donetsk republic, and the offices in side have been sealed, it says. life tips as normal -- continues as normal, but the volatility is not unnoticed. >> translation: i'm worried about my safety at the polling staugs. it -- station.

this is the donetsk's people republic. this is not ukraine. it's not ukraine anymore. >> staffers were soon back to work. say they have hidden key documents and expressing determination to carry on. i look at this optimistically. there have been signs people want to stand up to the rebels. honking their horizon at -- horns at rallies. wearing their country's colors. it is not known what kind of turnout there will be sunday. as to who will actually win the election, it's unclear victor will get a clear 50% vote. >> many of them actually said they wanted to vote in elections on sunday, but many of them said that they were afraid of, afraid of threats. vladimir putin spoke a bit more on fry about a range of things including of being openly critical, even mocking president obama saying who was he to judge the situation here? houbl a lot of bitterness, a lot of differences stem from this crisis in ukraine. >>> early saturday morning, we'll have complete coverage of that election this week. president obama's veterans secretary still has job tonight.

and that's something that the pro-russian donetsk people's republic say it will not participate in.e worried that there could be even more violence and lawlessness as they move forward to that election date. jake? >> atika shubert, thank you so much. >>> coming up in the world lead, they took hundreds of girls and now want to negotiate. should the nigerian government play ball with terrorists? a dangerous situation in that african nation. that's coming up. with my friends, we'll do almost anything. out for drinks, eats. i have very well fitting dentures. i like to eat a lot of fruits. love them all. the seal i get with the super poligrip free keeps the seeds from getting up underneath. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. a lot of things going on in my life and the last thing i want to be thinking about is my dentures. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. he was a matted messiley in a small cage. ng day. s

we asked the russian federation to consider merging the donetsk people's republic within the russian federation. >> it is a sentiment shared elsewhere in eastern ukraine. voting also for independence, luhansk mad -- may soon hold a referendum on joining russia. the mayor is calling for russian military help. four weeks, the rebel stronghold has seen fighting between armed separatists and ukrainian forces. >> we need russian troops to for oure stability, people first and foremost, and to ensure a peaceful future and eligible -- and our region. ukrainian troops as occupiers and what he calls the independent people's republic. you can government place the blame on russia -- the ukrainian government laces the blame on russia. >> for more reaction from russia let's bring in our moscow correspondent. has there been any reaction so far from the kremlin to these requests to join russia? >> rebels and the eastern part of ukraine asked to join russia but there hasn't been a reaction from official moscow on that. in terms of a statement on the referendum, it doesn't specifically say that russia

of the donetsk region have endorsed the establishment 6 the donetsk people's republic, which we declared on april 7th. >> pushylin said he will ask leaders in moscow to consider accepting donetsk into the russian federation. and he said he will establish a military in the region. he says separatists will not hold any kind of dialogue with ukraine's interim government. after pushylin spoke about 200 supporters gathered around municipal buildings occupied by pro-russian separatists. >> translator: it's like a celebration day. we achieved victory. i've been waiting a long time for this moment. >> translator: i'm very happy. all i can think about is joining russia. >> u.s. state department spokesperson jen psaki says the referendum was illegal, and she says the voting process raised questions. >> the methodology was also highly suspect with reports of clerical voting, premarked ballots, children voting, voting for people who were absent and even voting in moscow and st. petersburg. >> psaki says the presidential election on may 25th would give citizens across ukra

the people's republic of donetsk is a sovereign state the supremes body of the republic is the supreme council for the republic government and security council. based on the will of the people and to restore historical justice we asked the russian federation to consider making with the new republic a part of the russian federation. and now welling majority of the people who took part in the referendums into eastern ukrainian regions voted and they about self-determination the numbers were announced at a news conference held by the donetsk people's republic policia thirty's hales the final tally is now in for yesterday's referendum vote and no surprise it is an overwhelming yes for the right for self-determination here in the region the final count is eighty nine percent of people voting yes in the lugansk region it stands at ninety six percent it is also a referendum that saw an extremely high turnout there were people that were literally standing in some polling stations for hours the queues went all the way down the road sometimes in circling the next road and even going around the c

military and political commanders of the donetsk people's republic, the separatists told us they don'te what happens in tomorrow's election, they're not going anywhere. the donetsk government said it's time to move out, the people are ready to give up the weapons. are you going to clear them am? >> i'm sure that the ukrainian government after the presidential elections will continue actions to protect our citizens because any research shows that the "leaders" of the donetsk republic, so-called, do not have the support of society. more people are supporters of a united ukrainian state. of course there were problems in ukraine and exacerbated b by yanukovych who tried to split ukraine. after the election of a new president, i'm certain psych psychological changes will take place. the main purpose of putin to not let the elections happen will fail and i am sure after the election faster and more effectively we can eliminate the problems that exist in parts of our country today. >> reporter: thank you, mr. secretary. >> thank you. >> sreenivasan: jeffrey brown spoke to margaret a short tim

in the donetsk, the people are surprised. here is heavy declared governor of the people of donetsk.e has taken over the administration building. frankly what he said was that mr. putin is not the president of the donetsk people of republic. the people of th people's repubt tomorrow. they'll consider his opinion but they're no bound by it. >> what does it mean supporting or not supporting. he knows what we stand against. even if the majority decide to oppose the referendum, this is no longer than a week because later there will be on the 25th attempts to have those so-called elections so it will get legitimatized some way, some how. we intend not to participate in the elections. >> a pretty confusing suspect for all those concerned. do we know if there is going to be a referendum over the weekend or are they going to decide that tomorrow. >> there's not going to be a referendum this weekend. we were further east, and we could find nobody. we were going to the streets talking to people, we spoke to members of the administration there, and nobody knew where they were going to vote. whe

the newly appointed prime minister of the donetsk's people's republic says those tasked with organizinghe vote are quitting. >> people are just leaving all of these so-called polling stations, the election commissions and going home. there is no pressure on them. it's simple. these elections are not interesting to anybody. >> the moscow-born and raised lead ter told me his troops won't use force to stop the votes but according to one election monitoring group, they are already trying to do just that. >> six of the 10 people come to the commission, the building of the commission with guns, with some and now said in donetsk, it is the donetsk republic and unlegal to organize presidential election of ukraine. >> he said .6 out of 22 electoral officers in the donetsk region have been shutdown. we found one of them. >> the sign says that the electoral commission responsibility for the foument polling district is not working. the gate isn't locked, but there is no one inside. >> while looking for someone to speak to, we found a sign with a flag of the donetsk people's republic that says the o

but it hasn't stopped the donetsk people's republic.ve declared independence from ukraine and are turning to moscow, appealing to russia, to make donetsk a part of the russian federation. we haven't had a forr aformal re from moscow but clearly donetsk is hoping for action from putten. >> atika, what happens next in these regions? >> well, this is the big question, is moscow going to say yes, you can be part of the russian federation? will they opt for something else like putting peacekeepers in here? if not, it goes into this limbo. there's an increasing amount of violence and lawlessness on the street. just a few days ago, about an hour and a half away, several people were killed in it's tooing there. it's likely only to increase as the elections, the general elections, are to take place on may 25th. kiev insists this is the only way forward to resolve the crisis, but donetsk peoples republic said they're not going to have it, there will be no election, and there are concerns there could be a growing standoff until that election date.

>> reporter: well, i think that doesn't matter to the donetsk people's republic, the pro-russian group that's taken over the regional administration here. they, frankly, don't care what the rest of the world thinks. they're looking to moscow for answers. and we saw that yesterday when the official referendum results came in. just within hours, they had officially declared independence from ukraine and appealed to russia to become part of the russian federation. but perhaps what's most revealing about this is the fact that moscow hasn't answered their appeal yet. there's been deafening silence from the kremlin, so it's not clear exactly what's going to happen next. >> atika, russia annexed crimea. now they're saying, look, we're not interested in other parts, we don't want donetsk. they want a constitution with more policy-making decision for these sort of pro-russian regions. is that a possibility? it's still a united country, allegedly. >> reporter: well, from kiev's view, it's still a united country, and this is why they want to have a general election that sorts out these issues. an

people. only those in areas under separatist control will be able to vote. let's cross to donetsknd talk to paul brennan. paul is at a voting station. tell us what is happening around you, paul. >> reporter: welcome to polling station in school 95. it's been open since 8 o'clock this morning and has seen a steady stream, a torrent i would describe it, of people coming down. there's a queue nearly 200m long outside with people waiting to vote. people are queueing up here, there are eight to look over my shoulder,ate registrars, and what the process is that people come in, show an id card and passport and are registered. they put their name on a register, they signed their names and they then - they don't go into a voting booth. there's no privacy, there's no voting booths, most tick yes in front of a registrar and put the voting papers into the perspex ballot box. i have not seen a single no vote. you can see an overwhelming vote from this station in favour of the question, and the question is this: do people here favour self-rule for the donetsk people's republic, the self-declare

it appears none of the people in the rally in the eastern city of donetsk have any intention of voting. under a statue of lenin and waving russian flags they cheered nor a new russia, independent of the government in kiev and closer to neighboring moscow. traveling east of the regional capital through checkpoints manned by pro-russian separatists, we find many voters won't even have the chance to vote. in the eastern town of mariyuvka, election materials sit burning outside the polling station and inside local police looked less than interested in chasing the guilty parties. who came here to burn the ballots and materials outside? and witnesses are too afraid to tell their stories of an armed assault on the election headquarters? so who gave this order? outside a representative of the self-declared donetsk people's republic is more than willing to claim credit, showing me papers ordering closure of all polling stations here. what is the reason given for shutting down the polling stations. >> translator: in this region, 98% of the people voted for our independence. we don't have any con

the donetsk people's republic. on his wall a crude hint of things to come. borders drawn in with marker pen. huge chunks of the south and east ukraine enveloped in russia. >> reporter: they were trying to tell us that russia is the occupiers, but we know it's not like that. the border should be open. they are already sufficiently open in the rest of europe, and i think in the rest of future there will be some kind of union here. >> reporter: and outside of his office in the local opened registration building people milling about were pleased with the results. >> the newly formed republic will be built as a free republic, free from the kiev junta. >> we want to be under putin's power because our children keep dying. >> reporter: in slovyansk the idea of separation has taken root amid the violence. >> i'm 100% sure people have made the right decision before i was in doubt thinking maybe we don't need it. maybe it's not worth it. but after these attacks they are 100% right. >> reporter: so as they would have it inside this building the referendum has brought a

. >> the leader of the donetsk people's republic was defiant. >> with the latest developments unfolding fast and aggressively. we have to appeal to the president of the russian federation, vladimir putin. >> an al jazeera crew was caught up in the crossfire. they were on the road leading to the airport when gunfire broke out. the crew escaped unharmed. >> keep going. >> but they narrowly avoided an explosion as they were turning back. the fighting subsided but it is unclear if the military gained control of the airport. donetsk's mayor urged residents to stay indoors, at home. in a city of 1 million, a strong hold of separatists, there's little in the way of effective conciliation. >> syrian activists say 50 people have been killed in aleppo since monday. activists accused the residents of dropping bombers. these are drums filling with nails and explosives killing indiscrimina indiscriminately. >> the conflict in syria has destroyed many buildings. all six world heritage sites are on the endangered list. we have more on efforts to safeguard them. >> this has been fought over by governme

sure enough armed men from the self-proclaimed donetsk people's republic or do pr were seizing the buildingcomputers and pulled election papers out of the safe. in a tense meeting with office head, they said they were there to prevent preballot fraud leading up to sunday's presidential vote. >> how you can live with this? >> one dpr squad leader va unapologetic. >> we are closing this polling station because we don't want these elections to happen. >> warner: late today we were told the dpr had arrested ro circumstances lan and taken him away. unarmed police guarding the post put up no resistance and said they don't know how they can actually secure the actual voting places this sunday either. >> we are forbidden to say this but we are the hostage of this situation. can we defend any in this situation? physically, we can't. >> warner: separatists have now succeeded in closing more than half the election commission headquarters in the east, according to today's report by russia's interfax news agency. a crest-fallen-- said their operation is proving effective even among dedicated election st

the new leader of the so-called donetsk people's republic used to be a security guard and sell candy,d work for a company known for ponzi schemes. now his name is on the european union sanctions list. >> the battle for the ukraine is also economic. the international monetary fund approved a $17 billion aid package to prop up the ukrainian economy. this will help kiev pay billions of dollars of debt earned to russia. >> a reprieve for the cash trapped ukraine. this was necessary -- decisive measures were taken by the ukraine, and decisive measures have just been taken i the imf. >> the international body will pay out $17 billion over two years, starting with an immediate 3 billion-dollar first installment. there is also further aid from the european union and the united states, a lot is expected of the new interim government in return. the bailout is dependent on economic reform, in particular reducing the country's $8 billion budget deficit. the imf has called for a whole range of cost-cutting measures including suspending a look sector wage increases, and in addition, kiev must cut d

that announcement came from the self-styled leader of the rebel donetsk people's republic. robert, what more can you tell us? >> as you said, the self-styled president of the people's republic was speaking on the 17th floor and he said the vote would go ahead, the referendum would go ahead on sunday despite the appeal of vladimir putin for to be postpone. he said the reason for that was the ledger is arnie in place and they had gone so far that they could not betray the trust of the people who are ready for the vote. they cannot measure the trust of the people who died in the genocide -- nor could they betray the trust of the people who had died in slovensk and other places fighting for this referendum. he said this will be held on the european side -- and great weeks of preparation have gone into this. the papers have been printed and at this stage it was far too late because the train has already departed. >> hasn't been difficult to be split between the pro-russian separatists and the russian president himself? >> i don't think this is too significant. as i just suggeste

this was not going to be an easy rout for the government in kiev, and the leader for the donetsk people's republic was defiant. >> with the latest developments unfolding so fast and aggressively, we have to appeal to vladimir putin and the russian people. >> reporter: one al jazeera crew was caught up in the crossfire. they were on the road leading to the airport when shooting broke out. the crew escaped unharmed. >> they narrowly avoided an explosion as they turned back. >> do it. do it. do it, do it. >> reporter: by tuesday morning the fighting had calmed down. it was unclear if the military had complete control of the airport. the mayor urged residents to stay indoors. the man expected to be named president, petero poroshenko, compares the fighters in the east to somali fighters, outlaws that can't be invited to the negotiating table. he will make his first trip to the troubled eastern regions, and will talk with russia, many of whom accuse of supporting the fighting there, in early june. >> e.u. heads of states are due to meet in brussels to discuss the results of the european electio

expect, and i think all the cities in donetsk agree with us, the separation from ukraine from the donetsk people's republic. >> translation: we are oriented to the european public. all our roots are here in russia. >> with soviet music blaring across the square. this is the music occupied by representatives of the people's republics. after sunday's vote, many here hope it will become the seat of an autonomous government. and the hopes raised by vladimir putin on wednesday of a resolution to this crisis in ukraine appear to be unfounded. >>> we are going to go back to thailand where anti-government protesters forced their way into a government compound. our correspondent veronica pedrosa is standing by for us in the thai capital. not enough for the protesters that the former prime minister yingluck shinawatra is gone. they continue to protest. what are they doing there? >> well, here i am at government house, which is a different complex to the one that was overtaken as you mentioned earlier. this is where the prime minister usually holds office. as you say, the prime minister - the caretaker prime

. >> warner: as he spoke heavily- armed militia of the self- proclaimed "donetsk people's republic" had seized donetsk airport. pitched fighting continued throughout the afternoon. reports from the scene said ukrainian air force jets launched airstrikes, and the defense ministry said paratroopers had landed on the field. >> concerning the relationship with russia, please believe nothing changed during the night. >> warner: poroshenko's tone was a lot more measured when he spoke of relating to ukraine's largest and most-influential neighbor, saying he expects to meet with russian president vladimir putin in the first half of june. >> me and mr. putin know each other quite well, i think that would be immediately from the very first meeting: very important results. people in the east are waiting for this results. >> warner: putin has recently toned down his rhetoric on ukraine, and said he would respect the outcome of country's vote. in moscow today, foreign minister sergei lavrov said much the same, but stopped short of withdrawing russian support for the separatists. >> ( translated ): a

bottom there and the flag you might notice at the front of the ballot box that's the flag for the donetsk people'sblic, they organized this hastily put together referendum but of course they obviously want a yes vote as well. so is this an accurate representation, one that's verifiable, probably not. for many people here it's already a foregone conclusion. they know what the answer to this referendum is going to be. they want to know what happens next. >> atika, i understand the russian television channel there is telling people where to go to vote and yet russian president vladimir putin has said let's delay this vote publicly. do you think that's really just to save face? is he and russia supporting what's happening there? >> reporter: it's really hard to know. i do note that reaction here was initially baffled when vladimir putin came out saying that the referendum should be postponed. they went ahead and pushed ahead with that vote here. clearly there is that sort of momentum here. it's really hard to see how many people want independence because as we can see it's a flawed process. we do know

the leader of the self-proclaimed donetsk people's republic was defiant. >> translation: with the latest developments unfolding so fast and aggressively, we have to appeal to the president of the russian federation, and to the entire russian people. >> one al jazeera crew was caught up in the crossfire. they were on the road leading to the airport when gun fire broke out. the crew escaped unharmed. >> keep going, keep going. >> they narrowly avoided an explosion as they were turning back. the fighting subsided. it is still unclear if the military gained control of the airport. donetsk's mayor urged residents to stay indoors. in a city of 1 million, a strong hold of separatists, there's little in the way of reconciliation. >> e.u. heads of state are due to meet in brussels. there was a surge in support for eurosceptic and far right parties. francis hollande's parties were beaten, saying the e.u. has become too remote. europe has become illegible. i'm aware that it is remote and incomprehensible for the state. this cannot continue. europe has to be clear to be effective and withdraw from w

. >> translation: vladimir putin is not the president of the donetsk people's republic, but an example of a politician of a neighbouring state. he can't give us orders, but we can lisp to his opinion and we respect his decisions. residents of that territory will dyed. >> they were willing to have direct dialogue with the junta in kiev. he said it would not be easy. ukraine's interim prime minister in kiev dismissed the contribution of vladimir putin as nothing but hot air. >> the fact that russia is asking to postpone a referendum on 11 may. i think the russian president needs to be informed that there was no referendum planned. if terrorists and separatists got an order to postpone things that don't exist, this is internal to them. >> is mr vladimir putin trying to wroping foot you wran and its international -- ukraine and is thes supporters. he said he had withdrawn russian troops from the boarder. n.a.t.o. said it had seen no evidence. either way vladimir putin pushed the crisis into a new dynamic, opening an intriguing new phase here. >> a landslide in northern afghanistan confront

so for instance, in calling for a delay in this referendum in the donetsk people's republic.has bought the option to either accept or reject on his timetable. i think he'll wait and see what the situation looks like and decide if the candidate who wins is someone he can work with, or if he thinks he can get more by calling a legitimate election. >> you have seen this violence in eastern ukraine. tell us how you would categorize it. i believe you told your producers it's the essence of modern war fair. >> yeah, the russians have a word for it, which means something like masked war fair. you have [ inaudible ] special forces and russian intelligence agents and you have locals who are exmilitary, and exspecial forces and military contacts all working in concert with a certain portion of the population that is in fact a willing participate -- presidentant. if you remember they waited and delayed and tried everything they could not to do that, and now they have to. and as we can see in places like odessa or slaviansk, the results haven't been very good for them. >> clearly the fig

do you support the independence of the donetsk people of the republican. with one exception every ballot we saw had one tick for ukraine. we love ukraine, one voter told us but they took power and are destroyed our country. the crowd echoed their approval. there were pockets of violence. ukrainian forces shut down a polling station in a nearby town. later surrounded by an angry crowd, they began firing their weapons. at least one man was killed. it was the latest in a string of clashes with the military that for many here have only strengthened the desire for independence. >> clarissa ward joins us on the phone from donetsk. clarissa, is there a sense that the result of this vote could cause more violence? >> well, certainly i think that's the fear. the people who voted yes in this referendum see independence from the government in kiev as the only way to avoid war, but the people who boycotted the referendum -- and there were many of them -- see this vote as illegitimate and potentially de-stabilizing, and i think a lot of people are going to be watching

and the leaders of the new proclaimed donetsk people's republic. military action underway on the outskirts of the cities of slovyansk and kramatorsk both have seen some of there was fighting since the start of kiev's offensive in the rest of southeast the breakaway donetsk people's republic along with the neighboring lugansk region declared themselves sovereign states on tuesday following a popular referendum and journalist ground phillips isn't slovyansk and joins us now live by that one so has there been any escalation this morning are you. well i mean you lose you know what we call from the referendum and we're also now on from the ultimatum of the fifteenth of may for the ukrainian army to leave the territory now that was given to them by the newly founded in its people's republic but actually had the opposite effect they refused i went out to speak to the myself and they showed no intention in fact they reiterated they were staying and they were intensifying their action to retake the city of slavyansk which has now been in the hands of these

i also have to report that on the facebook side of the donetsk people's republic, they are claiming - have no way of a verifying this, but they are claiming that some 30 ukrainian soldiers died as a result of this contact. but like i say there is no of a verifying that. >> it confirms that this is the biggest security threat to europe since the cold war? >> it does, yes. the ukrainian interior ministry has been leading what he calls an anti terror operation in the east of ukraine for several days now, in fact well over a week with varying degrees of success. the tempo seems to have changed towards dialogue in recent days. four main thrusts, including disarmament, national dialogue, and placing a huge amount of importance on the national elections, the presidential elections which are going to take place on may 25th. but as you can see from today's incident and other skirmishes, and battles that have been taking place in various other towns in recent days, at the same time as the diplomats are trying to de-escalate the situation, there are military and paramilitary contacts going on. a