First results from the independence referendum in eastern Ukraine point to 90 percent having voted 'yes' in the Donetsk Region.
Counting got underway immediately after the polls closed on Sunday.
Pro-Moscow rebels said they had always been confident a majority would chose self-rule.
Roman Lyagin who is head of the separatist election commission justified the vote:
"We understand perfectly that no one in the world will recognise this. European organisations and countries in the whole world ...
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