ODESSA, March 14, /ITAR-TASS/. Opponents of Ukraine’s interim authorities on Friday decorated the famous Potemkin Staris, a giant stairway in Odessa, with a huge flag of Crimea, the Banner of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and the flag of the city of Odessa as they demanded holding referendums on decentralization of power in Ukraine, the state status of the Russian language and the country’s foreign policy course.

Hundreds of Odessa residents who gathered for a demonstration in the city center chanted, “Referendum!”, criticizing the “Maidan representatives” who had risen to power in Kiev in their speeches.

Activists of non-governmental organizations in Odessa have set up a tent camp on the city’s central Kulikovo Square to collect signatures for organising a plebiscite.

They are planning to hold a multi-thousand march against the interim Ukrainian authorities on Sunday, March 16, when the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is going to vote in a referendum on its future status.