Final results of the referendum in Crimea show that 96.8% of voters support leaving Ukraine to join Russia. Mikhail Malyshev, head of the referendum election commission, said that the commission has not registered a single complaint about the vote.
The referendum was widely condemned by Western leaders who are meeting to discuss economic sanctions to punish Russia. Ukraine's new government in Kiev called the referendum a "circus" directed at gunpoint by Moscow.
Electoral officials wait to collect the vote of World War 2 veteran Grinevich Oleksander in Bachchisaray, a mostly Russian area of CrimeaGettyA boy stands in front of the Crimean parliament building in Simferopol on the eve of the referendumReutersElection commission officials prepare polling booths in the colours of the Russian flag at a polling station in SimferopolGettyPeople vote inside a polling station in PerevevalneGettyA woman with a costumed dog waits to vote at a polling station in SevastopolReutersA Ukrainian police officer stands on duty at the entrance to a polling station in SimferopolReutersAn official stands next to clear boxes containing completed voting forms at a polling station in BakhchisarayReutersCompleted ballot papers are clearly seen inside a polling station in Simferopol,GettyElectoral officials give directions to a voter at a polling station in SimferopolGettyA man wearing a 'Ukraine' jacket enters a polling booth in SevastopolReutersA man wearing a 'Russia' jacket attends a rally in Lenin Square, SimferopolGettyPro-Russian demonstrators scuffle with police during a rally in Donetsk. Ukraine accused "Kremlin agents" of fomenting violence in Russian-speaking citiesReutersDemonstrators take part in a pro-Russian rally in OdessaReutersCrimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov stands in front of Russian flags on a stage on Lenin Square in Simferopol as preliminary results of the referendum are announcedReutersPeople wrapped in Russian flags watch as celebratory fireworks explode after the preliminary results of the referendum are announced on Lenin Square in SimferopolReutersA Russian army MI-35 military helicopter patrols the area as Ukrainian servicemen guard a checkpoint near the village of Strelkovo in the Kherson region, adjacent to CrimeaReuters
