Voters in Chechnya have given overwhelming support to a constitution placing the region under Russian control, local officials said today.
Before the count was complete, officials in the mainly Muslim region were quick to proclaim the success of the plebiscite, in which voters were also asked to endorse proposed legislation on electing a regional president and assembly.
A referendum held yesterday was the main plank in Russian President Vladimir Putin's plan for a political settlement to two post-Soviet campaigns that have killed tens of thousands and destroyed towns and villages.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the positive outcome to a referendum on a new constitution in Chechnya "resolved" the issue of Russia's territorial integrity and ended the conflict in the breakaway republic.
"The last serious problem in relation to Russia's territorial integrity has been resolved," Mr Putin said after electoral officials in Chechnya reported that more than 95 per cent of voters had approved a new constitution.
"From today, the republic is living under a new constitution," Chechnya's current Moscow-appointed prime minister, Mr Anatoly Popov, told NTV television.
"Now all of us - the administration, the government, the entire people, will have to work hard on improving our lives".
But separatists dismissed the vote as a way to perpetuate war and said they had launched attacks on polling stations. Many Chechens were sceptical of whether their vote had any meaning.