Donetsk, April 22 (RIA Novosti) – The leadership of the federalization supporters in Ukraine's Donetsk Region have informed OSCE representatives of their plan to hold a referendum on the region’s autonomy, a spokesman for the federalists said Tuesday.
"They came and met with us to hear our position. We have explained it to them," said Alexander Hryakov, the head of the media committee of the People's Republic of Donetsk.
"We asked the OSCE to get our position across, things will not be the same as before," he added.
The OSCE representatives asked what would happen if the results of the referendum on the status of the region do not satisfy the militia.
"I replied that if this is theoretically possible, then you can be sure we will not shoot at our own people, unlike how they are shooting at us now," the activist stated.
Hryakov added that there may be other meetings with the OSCE representatives in the nearest future, in particular with a former employee of the German Consulate in Donetsk who intends to stay in the city.
Rallies of pro-federalization activists began last month in eastern Ukraine, with protesters in Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv calling for a referendum on the status of their respective regions within the country.
To quell the protests, Ukraine’s interim government announced a special anti-terrorist operation targeting the cities of Kramatorsk and Slaviansk in the Donetsk region.
