Referendums in Donetsk, Lugansk

As an adamant defender of the democratic principle and the self-determination of sovereign polities, I have a few points to make regarding the plebiscites held in Donetsk and Lugansk on May 11.  First, both oblasts deserve the chance to determine their fate democratically in the post-Euromaidan political environment of Ukraine.  This statement should not be read as a validation of the actions of pro-Russian militias, seizing Ukrainian government facilities and fighting it out with security forces.  Rather, at some point the interim government in Kiev and pro-Russian factions in Donetsk, Lugansk, and Kharkiiv will have to sit down and start talking to each other about what the post-Euromaidan Ukraine will look like and whether or not the three big eastern oblasts with large ethnically Russian populations are going to remain part of the country.  Before this can happen, everyone really needs to put their weapons down.  And maybe if everyone can come to a consensus that the larger crisis is not going to be resolved until everyone puts their weapons down and starts talking, then maybe a real, live, actual referendum process can be contemplated to determine what the good people, ethnically Ukrainian and ethnically Russian, of Donetsk, Lugansk, and Kharkiiv actually want - whether they want a strictly unitary regime centered on Kiev and tilting decisively westward, separation and independence from both Kiev and the Russian Federation, or separation from Ukraine and unification with Russia.  If the press in Kiev can be believed (a very generous if), the majority (perhaps 70%) of the population in the eastern oblasts wants to remain with Ukraine and continue to have a unitary regime.  I find this claim nonsensical, in view of the larger ethnic diversity in the region (i.e. much larger ethnically Russian populations than anywhere else in Ukraine, not counting Crimea which should never have been counted as part of Ukraine in the first place!) and the initimate economic linkages between these oblasts and the Russian Federation.  On the other hand, it seems quite plausible to me that an overwhelming majority of the population wants neither to be trapped in a unitary relationship with Kiev contrary to its cultural and economic interests, nor to be swallowed up by Russia (notwithstanding the loud effect of pro-Russian militia activity). 
          The results of the May 11 referendums should be a foregone conclusion.  Of course they will support secession from Ukraine and any follow up referendums on unification with the Russian Federation will likewise demonstrate overwhelming support.  Only one side, and perhaps a tiny minority of the population, is actually being represented here, from areas of the two oblasts (Donetsk and Lugansk) where pro-Russian forces are already in control.  Outside of these areas, it would stand to reason that anyone who actually wanted to vote one way or the other would have been excluded anyway because the regime in Kiev regards the entire process as illegal.  With this in mind, the May 11 referendums are an unmitigated partisan farce.  The populations in these oblasts deserve to have a referendum to determine their future, but this referendum was not it, and whatever support the Russian Federation and Putin confer on this outcome, it can only be regarded as a tactic by an isolated faction that can never legitimately claim to represent the sovereign will of the entire population in these oblasts.  If Russia proceeds to annex these oblasts, it can only be viewed as an act of aggression against populations that never had a legitimate opportunity to make their voices heard. 
          Emphatically, the larger problem that still manifests itself here is that calmer heads are not being allowed to prevail over brute force.  In the short run, the interim government in Kiev may prevail in imposing its will against pro-Russian groups in the eastern oblasts.  Conversely, the pro-Russian minorities might achieve their aims if Russia intervenes militarily to annex the oblasts.  In either scenario, the larger hopes of the majority in these oblasts is going to be given short shrift and, as a consequence, the prevailing regime will stand as an aggressor and an oppressor against the sovereign democratic rule of the polity.  In the long run, this situation is untenable - it will promote an endless reiteration of political instability and economic stagnation for the Don Basin and for Ukraine as a whole.  In this regard, it would behoave all parties involved to put down their guns and start talking to each other.