Ukraine Partition Feared

Agence France-Presse reports with apparently events shifting in the opposition's favor, fears rose of a partitioned Ukraine as the eastern Russian-speaking regions warned they would split off into an autonomous territory.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev criticized the parliamentary vote, which reinforced the opposition's call for a re-run election to be held on December 12.

"This decision could lead to a split" in Ukraine, he said. "The goal is to establish order and not to lead the country into chaos," he added.

The BBC reports that officials in eastern Ukraine say they will split their region from the rest of the country if opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko becomes president:

After meeting in the power base of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, governors vowed to hold a referendum if Mr Yanukovych's win was overturned.

Mr Yushchenko has already warned that this threatens the future of Ukraine.

[. . .]

Mr Yanukovych met about 3,500 local officials from 17 of Ukraine's 25 regions in the eastern city of Severodonetsk.

He told delegates the disputed presidential election had pushed Ukraine to the "brink of catastrophe".

He said: "There is one step to the edge. When the first drop of blood is spilled, we will not be able to stop it."

Later, he looked on as delegates voted for "a referendum to be held in December this year to determine the region's status" and said he did not support the move.

Tens of thousands of protesting supporters of pro-Western Mr Yushchenko remain on the streets of the capital, Kiev.

Addressing them earlier, Mr Yushchenko said "those people who will raise the issue of separatism will be held criminally responsible under the Ukrainian constitution".

There is a lot at stake when Ukraine's Supreme Court considers the election result tomorrow.