An update, including results of today’s Crimea Referendum vote in Ukraine, is at the bottom of this post.

On Sunday, the people of Crimea go to the polls to vote in what’s being called The Crimea Referendum on whether to declare their independence from Ukraine and ask to become part of Russia.

So what, specifically, are they voting on?

Well, there are basically two questions on the ballot. The first question asks: “Are you in favor of the reunification of Crimea with Russia as a part of the Russian Federation?” The second question asks: “Are you in favor of restoring the 1992 Constitution and the status of Crimea as a part of Ukraine?”

Even though it’s been widely forecasted that the voters of the Referendum will reject Ukrainian rule, Vlad can’t be patient; he still must provoke. On Saturday, the eve before this very important vote, Russian forces which included commandos, helicopter gunships, and armored vehicles, took control of a village near the border with Crimea, where they have seized at least 1 natural gas plant. The Russians claim they are seizing plants to “protect them from terrorism”. But of course, the only “threat of terror” has been the imperial actions over the last weeks of Russia itself. The Ukrainians are furious, of course, and are demanding Russia pull back or they will defend themselves.

This from the AFP:

Ukraine accused Russia on Saturday of invading a region bordering Crimea and vowed to use “all necessary measures” to ward off an attack that came on the eve of the peninsula’s breakaway vote.

The dramatic escalation of the most serious East-West crisis since the Cold War set a tense stage for the referendum on Crimea’s secession from Ukraine in favour of Kremlin rule — a vote denounced by both the international community and Kiev.

The predominantly Russian-speaking Black Sea region of two million people was overrun by Kremlin-backed troops days after the February 22 fall in Kiev of a Moscow-backed regime and the rise of nationalist leaders who favour closer ties with the West.

President Vladimir Putin defended Moscow’s decision to flex its military muscle by arguing that ethnic Russians in Ukraine needed “protection” from violent ultra-nationalists who had been given free reign by the new Kiev administration.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had told Secretary of State John Kerry in London on Friday that Moscow “has no, and cannot have, any plans to invade the southeast region of Ukraine.”

Unbelievable. Or maybe not.

The Crimea Referendum, comes after three long bloody months of protests that overthrew Ukraine’s pro-Kremlin president and brought to power a new European-leaning team in Kiev that threatens to crush Vladimir Putin’s commie dream of rebuilding a post-Soviet empire. We’ve written about it here, here, here, here, and here.

Kiev says that the Crimean vote is basically illegal but they’re also very concerned about the growing “separatist” attitudes which seem to be spreading to other southeastern Ukrainian regions; regions that have centuries-old cultural and trade links to Russia. One can only think that Vladimir Putin’s operatives are helping to stir up those attitudes. The worthless UN apparently agrees with Kiev about the referendum being illegal but of course, are they doing anything? Not yet, but sanctions from the EU are inevitable.

As Crimea votes on their Referendum, there are dozens of billboards throughout the area that say “Together With Russia.” Puke. A few of those boards though have been hit by graffiti activists who scrawled out “Russia” and replaced it with “Ukraine.”

Will they vote Yes? Or no?

We’ll update this post on the results of the Crimea Referendum as soon as they’re in. And Barack Obama? On vacation, waiting for those failed diplomatic solutions from John Kerry to kick in. If I were Putin, I’d seriously bully them too.

UPDATE at 12:30 PDT: Apparently, Crimea has voted to break with Ukraine and join Russia.

Russian state media said Crimeans voted overwhelmingly to break with Ukraine and join Russia on Sunday, as Kiev accused Moscow of pouring forces into the peninsula and warned separatist leaders “the ground will burn under their feet”.

RIA news agency said 93 percent backed annexation, citing an exit poll released as voting ended at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT). Another Russian agency said turnout was over 80 percent.

Caught in an East-West crisis reminiscent of the Cold War, Kiev said Russia’s build-up of forces in the Black Sea region was in “crude violation” of an international treaty, and announced plans to arm and train 20,000 members of a newly-created National Guard to defend the nation.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Moscow that Washington would not accept the outcome of the vote, which is likely to favor union with Russia for a region which has a Russian-speaking majority.

According to this article, the EU will meet tomorrow to impose asset freezes and visa bans on people and “entities” involved in Russia’s seizure of Crimea. Also, Barack Obama has signed an executive order authorizing financial sanctions which will allow Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew to take steps that “could” include freezing assets or blocking American companies or individuals from doing business with Russians, Ukrainians or others deemed a threat to Ukraine’s security.

So here we go.

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