Natalia Kuzemko, a 50-year-old shop owner and supporter of Mr Gubarev, angrily accused the west of Ukraine of refusing to accept the will of the majority. "It's not that we all love Yanukovych - he broke many of his promises to us - but we were prepared to wait for the chance to vote him out," she said. "But the minority in the west of Ukraine, who lost the last election, were not prepared to do that and rose up to throw out the system. That's why we are angry and are looking at our historical place in Ukraine. This area was Cossack and was drafted into the Ukraine Soviet by Lenin. If it can be drawn in, it can be drawn out. We want a say."