Crimean Lawmakers Vote to Leave Ukraine, Join Russia


From VOA Learning English, this is In The News.

The crisis in Ukraine continued this week. On Thursday, lawmakers in Crimea approved a measure to make the peninsula part of Russia. The Crimean lawmakers also called a referendum on the issue. The special election is set for March 16th.

Sergei Shuvainikov is a deputy in the Crimean parliament. He said voters would be asked two questions: "First, ‘Do you vote for the reunion of Crimea with the Russian Federation, as a subject of the Russian Federation?' Second, ‘Do you vote for the restoration of the 1992 constitution and for Crimea to be part of Ukraine?'"


Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk speaks during a media conference at an EU summit in Brussels on March 6, 2014.





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In the News