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KIEV, Ukraine (AP) When new Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk invited anti-corruption activists to his apartment in Kiev last month, the first thing he showed off was his toilet. "See for yourself," Yatsenyuk joked. "It's not gold."

It was a jab at ousted president Viktor Yanukovych, who along with his government cronies had a notorious penchant for gaudy luxury.

Yatsenyuk's interim government is seeking to carry out sweeping reforms to break from a culture of self-interest, cynicism and corruption that left the country on the verge of bankruptcy. Images of chandeliers, gilded pillars and ornate marble flooring that emerged from Yanukovych's mansion after he fled caused revulsion across Ukraine.

By contrast, Yatsenyuk flies economy, lets whistleblowers into his home and readily admits to mistakes. Those qualities have helped him grow in stature and win support for his administration even as Ukraine struggles to avoid a possible breakup.

Yatsenyuk leads a motley team of young pro-Western professionals, idealists, nationalists and heroes of the Maidan protests named after the square that was the magnet of dissent as well as veterans of rough-and-tumble Ukrainian politics. As the eclectic group assumed power in February, it knew it faced a daunting challenge: State coffers were empty, the country was deeply polarized and the protest movement was not willing to give the new government any easy breaks.

Then things got dramatically worse: Ukraine lost Crimea to Russia and the government found itself battling pro-Kremlin insurgents, while trying to avoid war with its giant neighbor to the east. "Nobody fully realized the bonus, so to speak, we would be getting in the annexation of Crimea and separatist movements," Ostap Semerak, who holds the title of Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers and is a close ally of Yatsenyuk, told The Associated Press.

The road has been paved with successes and setbacks. But during the rocky journey, Yatsenyuk, who exudes the air of a somewhat nerdy intellectual, has gained respect by proving to be steadfast in the face of quixotic tasks, ready to sacrifice personal interests for the country's good. Yatsenyuk often refers to his new job as a suicide mission and, when congratulated recently on his post, he quipped that condolences were more in order.

While eastern Ukraine is deeply suspicious of the new government, the rest of Ukraine appears to trust its new leaders: A nationwide April poll conducted by the International Republican Institute shows full or partial support for the Yatsenyuk government at 52 percent, up from 46 in March. The poll had 1,200 respondents and a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.

The positive assessment is not shared by Russia, which casts the new government as a group of nationalist radicals that seized power during an armed coup.

As the country prepares for May 25 presidential elections to choose a new leader, all eyes are on the interim government and its ability to ensure a successful vote, even as eastern and southern regions are riven by unrest.

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Ukraine's Leader Gains Stature With Honest Image

Rickety ballot: carpenters build voting booths in Slaviansk ahead of Sunday's proposed referendum on self-rule. Photo: Getty Images

Mariupol: Ukraine's interim President Oleksander Turchynov warned pro-Russian eastern regions they would be stepping into the abyss if they voted for self-rule on Sunday in a referendum that has raised Western fears of a slide into full civil war.

Barricades of tyres and scrap metal blocked streets in the port city of Mariupol and in Slaviansk, centres of an uprising that has unleashed the worst crisis between the West and Russia since the Cold War.

For a vote on which so much hangs, the referendum in the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, which has declared itself a "People's Republic", seems a decidedly ad hoc affair.

Deadly clashes: a woman looks at a burned Ukrainian government tank on Saturday after fighting in the city of Mariupol. Photo: Getty Images

Ballot papers have been printed with no security provision and the meaning of the question - asking voters if they support state 'self-rule' for the People's Republic of Donetsk - is, perhaps deliberately, unclear.

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The eastern uprising followed the toppling in February of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, whose pursuit of ties with Moscow stirred mass protests by pro-Western activists in Kiev.

Ukrainian forces have been striking back with shows of force especially in Mariupol, an important industrial and shipping centre. The interior ministry said 20 rebels were killed in fighting there on Friday, while hospitals put the number of dead at seven.

Russia denies Western and Ukrainian accusations it has fostered the rebellion. It portrays the Kiev government as hostage to violent anti-Russian nationalists, intent on rooting out the culture and language of the Russian-speaking east.

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Ukraine warns of 'abyss' as rebel east approaches self-rule vote

MARIUPOL, Ukraine As two of the most tense regions in eastern Ukraine prepare to vote on declaring sovereignty, the country's acting president is warning them against self-destruction.

Sunday's ballots seek approval for declaring so-called sovereign people's republics in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where pro-Russia insurgents have seized government buildings and clashed with police and Ukrainian troops.

At least seven people died Friday in clashes in the city of Mariupol. The city remained on edge Saturday, with barricades of tires blocking some streets in the city center.

The referendums are being conducted by the insurgent movements and are not regarded as legitimate by Kiev or the West.

"The United States will not recognize the results of these illegal referenda," State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said in a statement late Saturday, calling the votes "an attempt to create further division and disorder."

The elections chief of the insurgents in Donetsk, Roman Lyagin, was quoted by news agencies as saying voting in Mariupol and one other district had begun early because of rising tensions there. He did not elaborate.

Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov, in comments posted on the presidential website Saturday, said supporters of independence for the east "don't understand that this would be a complete destruction of the economy, social programs and general life for the majority of the population."

"This is a step into the abyss for the regions," he said.

The hastily arranged referendums are similar to the March referendum in Crimea that approved secession from Ukraine. Crimea was formally annexed by Russia days later.

But organizers of the eastern vote have said that only later will a decision be made on whether they would use their nominal sovereignty to seek full independence, absorption by Russia or to stay part of Ukraine but with expanded power for the regions.

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Ukraine president decries eastern sovereignty

DONETSK, Ukraine - A little over 1,200 euros (S$2,100) might seem a small price to pay for self-rule, but that's how much vote organisers in this would-be republic say they have spent on a referendum on Sunday that has the potential to plunge Ukraine into civil war.

Five hundred euros, or 8,000 hryvnia, went on toner for three borrowed printers that have churned out ballot papers for more than three million eligible participants in the vote, which has been declared illegal by Kiev.

The list of voters is two years old and there will be no minimum turnout required for the result to stand. Nor have any outside observers been invited to the area which pro-Russian rebels have declared a "People's Republic". "Do you support the act of self-rule of the People's Republic of Donetsk?" the ballot paper asks, using a vague term which can also mean sovereignty.

Bar a small illustration at either end of the ballot paper, the black-and-white printed page contains no special markings that might prevent it being duplicated. "Okay, it's not really in line with the law, but I think that's the only way out," said Roman Lyagin, the 33-year-old head of Donetsk's hastily-established election commission.

The amateur air of Sunday's plebiscite in eastern Ukraine belies the ramifications it carries for the worst East-West standoff since the end of the Cold War.

The potential for manipulation is enormous.

Ukraine's state security service has already released what it says is a taped phone conversation between a Russian nationalist leader and rebel chief in Donetsk in which the Russian tells him to fake the result. "Just do what you like and write that it was 99 per cent," the voice says.

Reuters cannot independently verify the tape's authenticity.

Voting will run between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. (0500-1900 GMT), when counting will begin at 53 locations across the rebel zones of Donetsk and Luhansk.

The ballot boxes will then be brought by car to the regional capitals through checkpoints manned variously by pro-Russian militiamen and Ukrainian security forces, who are in the process of trying to dislodge the separatists.

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Ukraine rebels' no-frills referendum fraught with perils

Ukraine could be on the brink of a civil war after its army effectively surrendered a key port city to separatists, and independence referendums set to go ahead across the east.

Despite warnings from the international community, and stern words even from the Russian president, pro-Russian activists who now control several towns in Ukraine's east will hold a referendum on Sunday for independence in Donetsk and Luhansk.

Oleksandr Turchynov, the country's interim president called the referendum illegal and said it would be "a step into the abyss".

"A dreadful terror is in train with the support of a large part of the local population," Turchinov said on his website on Saturday. "It is a complex problem when a population deceived by [Russian] propaganda support terrorists."

The vote, he said, will "mean the complete destruction of the economy, social programmes and life in general for the majority of the population in these regions".

The eastern area of Donetsk and Luhansk is the country's coal and steel belt, accounting for 16% of its economy.

But the result of the referendum could leave residents with more questions than answers. In the wake of President Vladimir Putin's call to the pro-Russian activists to cancel their referendum, the question on the ballot paper is a touch more ambiguous.

It uses a Russian word which could be interpreted as "independence" or just "self-reliance".

Roman Lyagin, head of the electoral commission for "the People's Republic of Donetsk" told the Observer that it was "not about secession, this is about more autonomy. Afterwards we can then decide how we want to live with Ukraine, independently, or with Russia."

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Ukraine's 1000 Separatist Referendum That Could Send The Country 'Into The Abyss'