Crimea referendum a 'great farce,' says Ukraine president

Ukraine’s interim president Oleksandr Turchynov slammed Crimea’s referendum as a “great farce” on Monday, in a first reaction from Kiev after the peninsula voted overwhelmingly to split from Kiev and join Russia.

Speaking in parliament, Turchynov condemned “the continued aggression in Crimea that Russia is trying to conceal with this great farce that they call a referendum and that will never be recognised either by Ukraine or by the civilised world,” and called on deputies to approve the partial mobilisation of Ukrainian troops.