海角大神

In a vote freighted with geopolitical implications, Crimeans went to the polls Sunday in a snap referendum on whether to break away from Ukraine and join Russia, the former ruler of this Black Sea peninsula.

While Crimean Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians boycotted the hastily organized vote, pro-Russian voters compared it to a homecoming guaranteeing a brighter future.

鈥淚 was born in Crimea in 1950, when it was Russia, and now I鈥檓 voting to go back to my homeland,鈥� said Aleksander Kromel after casting a ballot at a polling station in 聽Simferopol, the regional capital. 鈥淚鈥檓 voting for the power of the Russian state to finally bring us out of this mess that the Ukrainians have made of us. We鈥檝e been on our knees for 20 years living under the Ukrainians.鈥�

Russia鈥檚 red, blue and white flag adorned windows and balconies of apartment houses across the regional capital, including a large one draped in front of the regional parliament. Russian Cossacks guarded the building鈥檚 entrances, part of a huge Russian security presence here that critics say is a form of intimidation.

Sunday鈥檚 referendum asks whether Crimea should be annexed by Russia or revert to a 1992 Ukrainian constitution under which Crimea can set its own foreign policy. Kiev considers the referendum illegitimate; the US and the European Union have said they will not recognize the results. 聽

Just four hours after polls opened, the pro-Russian regional prime minister, Sergei Aksyonov, announced that voter turnout was already 50 percent. Official results of the referendum will be announced Monday. But the outcome of the referendum seems to be a foregone conclusion given the ethnic-Russian majority among the peninsula鈥檚 2 million population. For them, joining Moscow means escaping the yoke of a Western Ukrainian government now in power in Kiev.

鈥淲e鈥檝e always wanted to rejoin Russia,鈥� said Aleksander Leonov, a polling station supervisor. 鈥淏ut this wave of support for the referendum rose up when the bandits took power in Kiev.鈥�

Last month鈥檚 ousting of former President Viktor Yanukovych amid mass protests has brought to power an interim cabinet made up of former opposition members. In Crimea, as in other parts of Ukraine鈥檚 Russian-oriented east and south, the new leaders in Kiev are accused of trying to impose an unfriendly, Western Ukrainian agenda.

鈥淲e鈥檙e just too different from the Western Ukrainians. We can鈥檛 live as one nation with them any more,鈥� Mr. Kromel, a retiree, said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e are simple, open-hearted Slavic people who believe in the Orthodox church. The Western Ukrainians are Catholic and more materialistic.鈥�

Tartar boycott

The referendum does not allow voters to keep Crimea鈥檚 current status as an autonomous region of Ukraine. Crimean Tatars boycotted the vote, saying it was illegal. The Tatars are a Turkic ethnic group who are Muslims, and represent about 12 percent of the peninsula鈥檚 population. In 1944, Soviet rulers expelled around 200,000 Tartars to central Asia; the survivors and their descendants were only allowed to return in the 1980s.聽

At the polling station in the Cultural Center of Simferopol鈥檚 Kamenka district, a majority Tatar neighborhood, less than 10 percent of the almost 1,800 registered voters had shown up by 1 p.m., according to a supervisor.

Across the street from the dilapidated, Soviet-era building, several Tatar men stood by and watched as a few voters trickled in.

鈥淭his referendum is a bad joke,鈥� said Ayder Abibialayev, who abstained from voting. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 hold a referendum in 15 days. This was organized by the Kremlin, and they鈥檙e having us vote with a gun to our head.鈥�

Ukraine鈥檚 Interior Ministry estimates that there are about 20,000 Russian soldiers occupying Crimea. Russian President Vladimir Putin claims they are local self-defense teams there to protect Ukraine鈥檚 threatened Russian-speakers.

鈥淯kraine is now teaching Russia a lesson about how to get rid of dictators,鈥� said Timor Teifukov, a Tatar who boycotted the referendum. 鈥淧utin is afraid of what Ukraine is now showing Russia, that鈥檚 why he鈥檚 manufactured this referendum.鈥�