Ukraina valde Ryssland före EU - stora protester som följd, länkar i inlägg2

later on a string of "pro-unity" demonstrations across the city attracted people from many walks of life.

Waving a Ukrainian flag alongside several other local clergy, Maxim Gorinov, 37, a pastor at a local evangelical church, said he wanted Donetsk to stay in Ukraine.

"I am Russian, my family speaks Russian, but I am against separatism. We don't want Russian troops here to separate us by force," he said.

Significantly, the unity movement in Donetsk is backed by "ultras" – fanatical supporters of the local Shakhtar football club, one of Ukraine's two top teams. In the violent street protests which eventually forced Yanukovych to flee the country, Shakhtar ultras fought alongside their arch-rivals from Kiev's Dynamo. On Sunday the ultras from each team played against each other in the country's capital in a continued display of unity. The game ended in an uncontroversial 1-1 draw.

On Tuesday evening the largest pro-unity rally in Donetsk attracted more than one thousand people. Protesters carried Ukrainian flags and chanted "Donbas is Ukraine" and "Putin go home". Shakhtar football club ultras flanked ordinary demonstrators saying they were there "to protect the people".

"Why should we have a referendum? It is unconstitutional for Donetsk to do this on its own", said Dimitry Goryainov, a urologist who joined the rally. "We are against the separation of Ukraine," he added. "The main problem here is people are scared the new government needs to reassure them by calling parliamentary elections after the presidential election."

Even the members of the local Cossacks – a staunchly pro-Russian group – are firmly against military intervention by Moscow.

"Ukraine can solve its internal problems on its own," said the Cossacks' leader, Vadim Zhmarin. "We are against any troops entering Ukrainian soil – Nato or Russia," he added.

Unity activists' leaders claimed a moral victory, and said an even bigger march will be held on Wednesday. Alex Ryabchyn, a unity activist and PhD student, said he had never seen so many Ukrainian flags flying in Donetsk as he had now. "This really is a historical day for our city," he added.