Voting in the referendum is underway -it started at 6am Irish time.
The mainly Russian speaking region has been the focus of rising tensions in Ukraine, since former President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted last month.
The 1.5 million strong electorate are being given two options- a direct move to join Russia, or simply independence from Ukraine.
Yesterday, Russia vetoed a UN Security Council draft resolution to declare the referendum as invalid.
Svetlana Kalisetskaya -chairwoman of one of the polling committee's in the region expects a big turnout.
