Could Donetsk be the next part of Ukraine to be annexed? To Britain?

Could Donetsk be the next part of Ukraine to be annexed? To Britain?
By Euronews
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button
ADVERTISEMENT

Gallows humour is seemingly alive and well in eastern Ukraine.

Web users in Donetsk have suggested holding a spoof referendum to see if the city’s inhabitants want to be annexed by Britain.

It is not quite as stupid as it first sounds – John Hughes, a Welsh engineer and businessman, founded Yuzovka, what is modern-day Donetsk.

The online poll reportedly attracted 7,000 votes, with 61% saying they were in favour of joining the UK.

The appeal said: “Only you decide where your children live and in what language they will speak.

“We demand a referendum on the return to our original Yuzovka bosom – a part of Great Britain!”

The appeal comes a week after Russia began the process of annexing Crimea.

Hughes, born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, an industrialist, buying a shipyard aged 28 and owning a foundry by the age of 36.

It wasn’t however until 1870, aged 55, that he became involved in Russia. At the wish of the Russian government, he developed a metal works on a piece of land north of the Azov Sea. Its subsequent expansion spawned a settlement which grew in its shadow – named Hughesovka, which, in 1961, became Donetsk.

Share this articleComments

You might also like

Vaughan Gething elected as first minister of Wales

One third of Wales 'at least a little bit queer' - report

England and Wales raise minimum age for marriage: What's the age in other European countries?