By Thomas Grove DONETSK Ukraine (Reuters) - Pro-Russian rebels elected a separatist leadership in eastern Ukraine on Sunday in a vote President Petro Poroshenko called "a farce." Mining electrician-turned-rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko won over 81 percent of the vote, according to the rebels' exit polls of an election that has worsened a standoff between Russia and the West. The United States and European Union have already denounced it as illegitimate, but Russia has said it would recognise the result, deepening a crisis that began with the popular overthrow of a Moscow-backed president in February. Poroshenko said the votes in the eastern Ukrainian rebel region of Donetsk and a separate one in Luhansk were "a farce, (conducted) under the barrels of tanks and machine guns." "I hope Russia will not recognise the so-called elections because they are a clear violation of the Sept. 5 Minsk protocol, which was also signed by Russia's representative," he said, referring to an international peace agreement meant to end months of fighting between the separatists and Ukrainian troops.
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