Referendums Ukraine

The Bush Administration, faced with accelerating political and economic disintegration in the Soviet Union, is struggling to find ways to prevent the crumbling superpower from sliding into violence and chaos, officials say.

With the Soviet Union's fate hanging in the balance, Ukrainians by the millions voted Sunday in a referendum on independence, though warned by Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev that severing their centuries-old ties with Moscow would lead to disaster. In villages and cities, citizens and their leaders have insisted on the Ukrainians' historic right to statehood, and massive endorsement of independence is considered assured.

With the Soviet Union's fate hanging in the balance, Ukrainians by the millions voted Sunday in a referendum on independence, though warned by Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev that severing their centuries-old ties with Moscow would lead to disaster. In villages and cities, citizens and their leaders have insisted on the Ukrainians' historic right to statehood, and massive endorsement of independence is considered assured.

In American terms, it would be like tearing the Midwest from the map of the United States and proclaiming it an independent country. Gone would be the industrial muscle of Chicago and Detroit, along with the choicest part of the nation's granary. The ICBMs at Grand Forks would slip from Washington's control. To travel to St. Louis or a thousand other destinations, U.S. citizens would need passports.

In American terms, it would be like tearing the Midwest from the map of the United States and proclaiming it an independent country. Gone would be the industrial muscle of Chicago and Detroit, along with the choicest part of the nation's granary. The ICBMs at Grand Forks would slip from Washington's control. To travel to St. Louis or a thousand other destinations, U.S. citizens would need passports.

The Bush Administration, faced with accelerating political and economic disintegration in the Soviet Union, is struggling to find ways to prevent the crumbling superpower from sliding into violence and chaos, officials say.