2014 Donbas general elections

Last updated

The 2014 Donbas general elections were held on 2 November 2014 by the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, which were at that time both members of the now defunct Novorossiya confederation. [1]

Contents

As a result of a war that started in April of the same year, these internationally unrecognized entities controlled parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in eastern Ukraine, together called the Donbas region. The elections, the first of their kind since the establishment of either republic, were held to choose their chief executives and parliaments. In the Donetsk People's Republic, incumbent leader Alexander Zakharchenko won the post of chief executive, and his Donetsk Republic party gained a majority in parliament. In the Luhansk People's Republic, incumbent leader Igor Plotnitsky won the post of chief executive, and his Peace for Luhansk Region party gained a majority in parliament.

Neither the European Union nor the United States recognized the elections, which violate the terms of the Minsk Protocol, according to which local elections in the areas occupied by the DPR and LPR were supposed to be held on 7 December, in accordance with Ukrainian law. [2] [3] [4] Russia, on the other hand, indicated that it would recognize the results as legitimate, although Ukraine had urged Russia to use its influence to stop the elections and "to avoid a frozen conflict". [5] Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said that the election was an important step needed "to legitimize the [DPR and LPR] authorities". [6] Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov later qualified that the Russian Federation's position of respecting the results of the election does not necessarily mean an official recognition of the results. [7]

In Ukraine as a whole, following the February 2014 revolution, a presidential election had been held on 25 May, and parliamentary elections on 26 October. DPR and LPR authorities blocked these elections in the areas that they control. [5] [6] Those authorities had previously held largely unrecognized referendums on 11 May to approve the establishment of the two Republics.

Background

Donetsk People's Republic

Elections of deputies to the Supreme Soviet of the Donetsk People's Republic, along with elections for the chief executive of the DPR, took place on 3 November 2014. A central election commission was established to organise the election, and prepared 3.2 million paper ballots. People who were at least thirty years old and who "permanently resided" in the DPR in the previous ten years were electable for terms of four years, and public organisations could nominate candidates. [1] No voter lists were used, leading to fears of potential duplicate votes. [8] [9] Internet voting was allowed, apparently so that those who lived outside the territory controlled by the DPR could cast a vote. Internet voting started prior to election day. [9] These internet votes were accepted by email, as long as the voter sent a scanned copy of their passport along with their vote. [8] The election commission set up mobile polling stations, allowing DPR fighters, including non-citizens - Russians and other foreigners in their ranks - to vote. [9] Many polling places in Donetsk offered voters cabbage, potatoes, carrots, beetroot, and onions at below market price, or even for free, in an effort to draw voters. [8] [10] According to DPR, over 360 polling stations were open on election day.[ citation needed ] According to an article that appeared in The Guardian, most supporters of a united Ukraine had long since left DPR-controlled territory by the time of the elections. [11] The article also mentioned that those pro-Ukrainian people who remained in the region were forced to "keep quiet in an atmosphere of fear, in which those suspected of pro-Kyiv sympathies could be arrested or worse".

Candidates and political parties

Three candidates vied for the position of DPR chief. These were Aleksandr Zakharchenko, Yuri Sivokonenko, and Aleksandr Kofman. Two political parties contested seats in the parliamentary elections: Donetsk Republic and Free Donbas. Whilst the Communist Party of the Donetsk People's Republic had planned to participate in the elections, it was not allowed to participate because it "made too many mistakes in its submitted documents". [12] It endorsed Aleksandr Zakharchenko. [13] Pavel Gubarev and his New Russia Party, along with other parties, were banned from participating because they "were not able to hold a founding conference", had "purported errors in their documents", or had "not notified the central election commission of the conference at which the party had been founded". [14] [15]

Campaign

DPR chief candidate and incumbent DPR prime minister Aleksandr Zakharchenko's election promises were described by the Financial Times as "a list of mandates and promises that ran the gamut from somewhat realistic to well outside the realm of possibility". [16] During campaign rallies, he told potential voters that he wanted pensions to be "higher than in Poland", and that pensioners should have enough money to "travel to Australia at least once a year to shoot a dozen kangaroos on Safari". [9] Zakharchenko promised to build "a normal state, a good one, a just one. Our boys died for this, civilians are still being killed for this until now". [9] Zakharchenko also vowed that production would soon restart at businesses closed by the war, that there would be a ten percent discount on certain groceries, that salaries would be immediately distributed to the city's doctors and nurses, and that pensioners would soon receive the pensions that had been unpaid since the start of the war. [16] During a campaign rally, he said "These are historical times. We are creating a new country! It's an insane goal", and that "We're like the United Arab Emirates. Our region is very rich. We have coal, metallurgy, natural gas...the difference between us and the Emirates is they don't have a war there and we do". [16] During campaign events, Zakharchenko carefully recorded the names of all those who appealed to him for help with some problem, and then summoned "one of a dozen aides who he promised would swiftly deal" with these problems. [16]

Across DPR territory, billboards were plastered with messages in support of Zakharchenko. [8] Posters in support of Zakharchenko read "Vote for life!", and pictured doves and children. [9] According to The New York Times, these billboards suggested "a tight race between Aleksandr Zakharchenko and Aleksandr Zakharchenko". [8] Other candidates did not use billboards or posters, and were generally unknown to voters. [16] DPR chief candidate Yuri Sivokonenko said "I didn't ask people to vote for me, because I don't have any differences in principle with Zakharchenko". [8]

Opinion polls

A poll conducted by the Donetsk State University of Management evaluated voter support for candidates. [17] 53% of those polled supported Aleksandr Zakharchenko, whereas only 7% supported Yuri Sivokonenko, and 6% supported Alexander Kofman. Another survey, conducted by SOCIS, found that 51.3% of those polled supported Zakharchenko, 5.1% supported Sivokonenko, and only 0.8% supported Kofman. [14] [18]

With regard to the parliamentary elections, a survey by the Donetsk State University of Management found that 48% of those polled supported the "Donetsk Republic" party, whilst 11% supported the "Free Donbas" party. [17] A survey by SOCIS found that 39.1% of those polled supported Donetsk Republic, whilst 31.6% supported Free Donbas. [14] [18]

Results

Roman Lyagin, head of the DPR central election commission, announced the results of the election on 3 November.[ citation needed ]

Chief executive elections (DPR)

CandidatePartyVotes%
Aleksandr Zakharchenko Donetsk Republic 765,34078.93
Alexander KofmanIndependent111,02411.45
Yuri Sivokonenko Free Donbas 93,2809.62
Total969,644100.00
Valid votes969,64495.75
Invalid/blank votes43,0384.25
Total votes1,012,682100.00
Source: Donetsk People's Republic [19] (Ukrayinska Pravda [20] )

Parliamentary elections (DPR)

PartyVotes%Seats
Donetsk Republic 662,75268.3568
Free Donbas 306,89231.6532
Total969,644100.00100
Valid votes969,64495.75
Invalid/blank votes43,0384.25
Total votes1,012,682100.00
Source: Donetsk People's Republic [19] (Ukrayinska Pravda [20] )

Luhansk People's Republic

Elections to the Supreme Soviet of the Luhansk People's Republic, along with elections for chief of the LPR, took place on 3 November 2014. In the LPR, residents that were of eighteen years of age were allowed to vote at more than 100 polling places. [21] Five polling places were opened at Donbas refugee camps in Russia. A central election commission was created to organise the election, led by Sergei Kozyakov. He stated on 31 October that early voting turnout at mobile polling stations ranged from 90% to "not enough ballots". [22] The commission refused to register multiple parties and candidates on technical grounds, and one of these refusals led to violent clashes that left three people injured. [15]

Candidates and political parties

Four candidates vied for the position of LPR chief. These were incumbent LPR prime minister Igor Plotnitsky, Oleg Akimov, Larisa Airapetyan, and Viktor Penner. [14] Three political parties contested seats in the parliamentary elections: Peace for Luhansk Region, Luhansk Economic Union, and the People's Union. [14]

Results

According to LPR central election commission head Sergei Kozyakov, voter turnout was greater than 60 percent.[ citation needed ] He said that more than 630,000 people had cast ballots in the elections. Results of the election were announced by him on 3 November 2014. [23]

Chief executive elections (LPR)

CandidatePartyVotes%
Igor Plotnitsky Peace for Lugansk Region 63.08
Oleg Akimov Luhansk Economic Union 15.12
Viktor Penner Luhansk Economic Union 10.08
Larisa Airapetyan7.28
Total
Source: Luhansk People's Republic [23]

Parliamentary elections (LPR)

PartyVotes%Seats
Peace for Lugansk Region 69.4235
Luhansk Economic Union 22.2315
People's Union3.850
Total50
Source: Luhansk People's Republic [23]

Legitimacy

According to the text of the Minsk Protocol, local elections in Donbas were meant to be held in early December, in compliance with Ukrainian law. [24] The Russian ambassador, Zakharchenko, and Plotnitsky signed the Protocol. Five days after signing a follow-up memorandum on the implementation of the Minsk Protocol, DPR and LPR authorities announced that they would hold their own elections in November. The United States and the European Union quickly condemned the elections. [24] As a representative of Russia signed the Minsk Protocol, some European leaders asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to use his influence to stop the elections in the DPR and LPR. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on 28 October that Russia would recognise the results and that they did not violate the Protocol. [2] OSCE chairman Didier Burkhalter confirmed that the DPR and LPR elections ran "counter to the letter and spirit of the Minsk Protocol", and said that they would "further complicate its implementation". [25] According to Burkhalter, the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine attempted to raise this issue with the DPR and LPR authorities in a video conference on 31 October, but DPR and LPR representatives did not respond.

Foreign observers

The Donetsk People's Republic central election commission said that 50 foreign observers monitored the elections. Most of these observers were far-right politicians and activists, and were said to come from Russia, Abkhazia, France, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Israel and the United States. [15] [26] Two organisations were involved in setting up this observer mission. These were the Eurasian Observatory for Democracy and Elections (EODE), run by the Belgian far-right activist Luc Michel, and the European Centre for Geopolitical Analysis (ECGA), run by Polish far-right politician Mateusz Piskorski. [26] Another newly created organisation called the "Agency for Security and Cooperation in Europe" (ASCE), and mainly made up of European far-right politicians, travelled to the DPR and LPR to attempt to legitimise the elections. [27] No monitors from the OSCE were present on election day, and the creation of the similarly named "ASCE" was widely viewed as farcical. One of the members of the organisation, Austrian far-right politician Ewald Stadler, later admitted that it did not legally exist. [10]

Reactions

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donbas</span> Region in eastern Ukraine

The Donbas or Donbass is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Ukraine</span> Eastern, mostly Russian-speaking part of Ukraine

Eastern Ukraine or east Ukraine is primarily the territory of Ukraine east of the Dnipro river, particularly Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts (provinces). Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts are often also regarded as "eastern Ukraine". In regard to traditional territories, the area encompasses portions of the southern Sloboda Ukraine, Donbas, the eastern Azov Littoral (Pryazovia).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donetsk People's Republic</span> Disputed Russian republic in eastern Ukraine

The Donetsk People's Republic is an internationally unrecognised republic of Russia in the occupied region of eastern Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast, with its capital in Donetsk. The DPR was created by Russian-backed paramilitaries in 2014, and it initially operated as a breakaway state until it was annexed by Russia in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donetsk Republic (movement)</span> Political party in Ukraine

The Social Movement "Donetsk Republic" is a pro-Russian separatist political movement operating in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Before its annexation, the movement's goal was the creation of a "federation of sovereign Donetsk", which would include seven regions of eastern and southern Ukraine. The group was banned in 2007, but this ban was marginal until the 2014 Donbas war. In 2014, it founded the Donetsk People's Republic, which Ukraine's government deems a terrorist organization. The movement won the 2014 Donbas general elections with 68.53% of the vote and 68 seats, which were condemned as illegitimate and a violation of the Minsk ceasefire agreements between Ukraine, Russia, and the OSCE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian people's militias in Ukraine</span> Pro-Russian paramilitary groups in eastern Ukraine

The People's Militia of the Donetsk People's Republic and People's Militia of the Luhansk People's Republic are pro-Russian paramilitaries in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, under the overall control of the Russian Federation. They are also referred to as Russian separatist forces or Russian proxy forces. They were affiliated with the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) during the war in Donbas (2014–2022), the first stage of the Russo-Ukrainian War. They then supported the Russian Armed Forces against the Ukrainian Armed Forces during the 2022 Russian invasion. In September 2022, Russia annexed the DPR and LPR, and began integrating the paramilitaries into its armed forces. They are designated as terrorist groups by the government of Ukraine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denis Pushilin</span> Russian separatist leader

Denis Vladimirovich Pushilin is a politician from the Donbas region of Ukraine, who is serving as the Head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) since 2018. He holds the position in acting capacity ever since the Russian annexation of the DPR in 2022.

Referendums on the status of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, parts of Ukraine that together make up the Donbas region, were claimed to have taken place on 11 May 2014 in many towns under the control of the Russian-controlled Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. These referendums intended to legitimise the establishment of the so-called "republics", in the context of the Russian invasion of Crimea and rising pro-Russian unrest in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution. In addition, a counter-referendum on accession to Dnipropetrovsk Oblast was held in some Ukrainian-controlled parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War in Donbas (2014–2022)</span> 2014–2022 war between Ukraine and Russia

The war in Donbas, or Donbas war, was an armed conflict in the Donbas region of Ukraine, part of the broader Russo-Ukrainian War. The war began in April 2014 when armed Russian-backed separatists seized government buildings and the Ukrainian military launched an operation against them. It continued until it was subsumed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luhansk People's Republic</span> Disputed Russian republic in eastern Ukraine

The Luhansk People's Republic or Lugansk People's Republic is an internationally unrecognised republic of Russia in the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, with its capital in Luhansk. The LPR was proclaimed by Russian-backed paramilitaries in 2014, and it initially operated as a breakaway state until it was annexed by Russia in 2022.

Novorossiya or New Russia, also referred to as the Union of People's Republics, was a project for a confederation between the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) in Eastern Ukraine, both of which were under the control of pro-Russian separatists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Zakharchenko</span> Ukrainian separatist leader (1976–2018)

Alexander Vladimirovich Zakharchenko was a Ukrainian separatist leader who was the head of state and Prime Minister of the Donetsk People's Republic, a self-proclaimed state and rebel group which declared independence from Ukraine on 11 May 2014. Zakharchenko was appointed Prime Minister in August 2014 after his predecessor Alexander Borodai resigned, and went on to win the early November 2014 election for the position.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Igor Plotnitsky</span> Ukrainian separatist leader; 2014–2017 head of the Luhansk Peoples Republic

Igor Venediktovich Plotnitsky is a former Ukrainian separatist leader who served as the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, in eastern Ukraine, from 14 August 2014 to 24 November 2017. He was born 26 June 1964 either in Luhansk or in the town of Kelmentsi, Chernivtsi Oblast. Plotnitsky himself did not issue a public statement on 24 November 2017, but on that day a Luhansk People's Republic website claimed he had resigned as their president. On 25 November the 38-member People's Council of the self-proclaimed state unanimously approved Plotnitsky's resignation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minsk agreements</span> Series of agreements to stop the Donbas war

The Minsk agreements were a series of international agreements which sought to end the Donbas war fought between armed Russian separatist groups and Armed Forces of Ukraine, with Russian regular forces playing a central part. The first, known as the Minsk Protocol, was drafted in 2014 by the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, consisting of Ukraine, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), with mediation by the leaders of France and Germany in the so-called Normandy Format. After extensive talks in Minsk, Belarus, the agreement was signed on 5 September 2014 by representatives of the Trilateral Contact Group and, without recognition of their status, by the then-leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). This agreement followed multiple previous attempts to stop the fighting in the region and aimed to implement an immediate ceasefire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aleksey Mozgovoy</span> Pro-Russian rebel and warlord in Eastern Ukraine

Aleksey Borisovich Mozgovoy or Mozgovoi was a commander of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic in Ukraine. He was the leader of the pro-Russian Prizrak Brigade and also served as "judge" on the "People's Court", notorious for issuing controversial death sentences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donbas Post</span> Postal operator in the unrecognised self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic

Donbas Post is an enterprise that operates the postal system of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic, the non-recognized entities created by Russia-backed separatists on the illegally annexed Ukrainian territories. It has been difficult for its operation due to the Russian aggression in Ukraine being upscaled to a full scale invasion of Russia and the Donbass region being a key region of the fighting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonid Pasechnik</span> Head of the Luhansk Peoples Republic

Leonid Ivanovich Pasechnik is a Ukrainian-born politician who has served as Head of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) since 2017. He holds the position in acting capacity ever since the illegal and unrecognized Russian annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts in 2022. Pasechnik had previously held office as the LPR's Minister of State Security from 2014 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Bednov</span> Assassinated rebel commander of the LPR

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Bednov was a former Soviet and Ukrainian militsiya officer and rebel commander of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic in Ukraine. He was the leader of the pro-Russian Batman Rapid Response Group. He was assassinated in Luhansk, with a debate among his supporters on who was responsible although on the day of his killing LPR "prosecutor's office" issued an official statement confirming "liquidation" of Bednov as "a head of a criminal organization".

General elections were held on 11 November 2018 by the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. As a result of a war that started in April 2014, these internationally unrecognised entities control parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in eastern Ukraine, which are together called the Donbas region. They previously held elections in 2014. Voters were asked to elect the Head of the Donetsk People's Republic and Head of the Luhansk People's Republic as well as the deputies for two parliaments: the People's Council of the Donetsk People's Republic with 100 seats, and the People's Council of the Luhansk People's Republic with 50 seats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International recognition of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic</span> Diplomatic recognition of Russian separatist states in Ukraine between 2014–2022

From April 2014 until September 2022, the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) were two pro-Russian separatist states established in the Donbas, a historical region in easternmost Ukraine. Escalating tensions between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian government, which regarded the two states' secession as illegal, led to the protracted War in Donbas. While the DPR and the LPR remained unrecognized by the international community, they covertly received a substantial amount of financial and military support from neighbouring Russia.

The general mobilization in the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic began on 19 February 2022, 5 days before the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Tens of thousands of local residents were forcibly mobilized for the war.

References

  1. 1 2 Date of elections in Donetsk, Luhansk People's republics the same - Nov. 2, Russian News Agency "TASS" (11 October 2014)
  2. 1 2 "Russia Backs Plan by Ukraine Separatists for an Early Election". The New York Times. 28 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "EU not to recognize elections organized by DPR and LPR". Interfax-Ukraine . 25 October 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "PACE president condemns decision to hold 'elections' in DPR, LPR – statement". Interfax-Ukraine . 1 November 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Ukraine urges Russia to stop separatist elections". USA Today . 21 October 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  6. 1 2 Ukraine crisis: Russia to recognise rebel vote in Donetsk and Luhansk, BBC News (28 October 2014)
  7. ↑ "Russia Respects, But Does Not Necessarily Recognize Donetsk, Luhansk Elections: Kremlin". RIA Novosti. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Rebel-Backed Elections to Cement Status Quo in Ukraine". The New York Times. 2 November 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "East Ukraine separatists hold vote to gain legitimacy, promise normalcy". Reuters . 30 October 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  10. 1 2 "Ukraine rebels lure voters to polls - with root vegetables". The Daily Telegraph. 2 November 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "Russia calls for talks with Kyiv after separatist elections". The Guardian. 3 November 2014.
  12. ↑ "Eastern Ukraine's Fake State Is About to Elect a Fake Prime Minister". Foreign Policy. 29 October 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  13. ↑ "Communist Party created in Donetsk People's Republic". TASS. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 "Дадут ли Новороссии сделать выбор?" [Will New Russia (be) allowed to make a choice?]. Moskovskij Komsomolets . 31 October 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  15. 1 2 3 "A prelude to a farce: Prearranged ballots for Kremlin-backed breakaway regions". Kyiv Post . 1 November 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 "Donetsk People's Republic campaign reveals shambolic tendencies". Financial Times . 23 October 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  17. 1 2 "Что ждать от выборов ДНР и ЛНР 2 ноября" [What to expect from the DPR and LPR elections on November 2]. sobesednik.ru (in Russian). 28 October 2014.
  18. 1 2 "Опрос: больше половины избирателей ДНР на выборах готовы поддержать Александра Захарченко" [Poll: More than half of voters in the DNR elections are ready to support Alexander Zaharchenko]. Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (in Russian). 28 October 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  19. 1 2 "DNR CEC announced the final figures of the election results on 2 November" (Press release) (in Russian). Donetsk People's Republic. 3 November 2014. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  20. 1 2 "Донецькі бойовики за ніч порахували голоси: "переміг" Захарченко" [Donetsk militants counted votes for the night: Zakharchenko "won"]. www.pravda.com.ua.
  21. ↑ "Polling stations open in Luhansk People's Republic and Donetsk People's Republic". TASS. 2 November 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  22. ↑ "Early voting in Ukraine's self-proclaimed Luhansk Republic shows high turnout". TASS . 31 October 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  23. 1 2 3 На выборах в ЛНР большинство голосов набрали Игорь Плотницкий и общественное движение 'Мир Луганщине' [In the LPR elections, the majority of votes went to Igor Plotnitsky and the social movement 'Peace for Lugansk Region'] (Press release) (in Russian). Lugansk People's Republic. 3 November 2014. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  24. 1 2 "Eastern Ukraine's Fake State Is About to Elect a Fake Prime Minister". Foreign Policy. 29 October 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  25. ↑ "So-called elections not in line with Minsk Protocol, says OSCE Chair, calling for enhanced efforts and dialogue to implement all commitments" (Press release). Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. 31 October 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  26. 1 2 Allison Quinn (6 November 2014). "The Faces Behind Ukraine's Rebel Election Observer Mission". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  27. ↑ Shaun Walker (3 November 2014). "The Guardian". TheGuardian.com . Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  28. 1 2 "Russia calls for talks with Kiev after separatist elections". The Guardian. 3 November 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  29. ↑ "Too early to discuss broader monitoring of Ukraine-Russia border - Lavrov". Interfax-Ukraine . 5 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  30. ↑ "President Poroshenko in talks over rebel polls". BBC News. 3 November 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  31. ↑ Agencies (5 November 2014). "Ukraine to stop cash support for east". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  32. ↑ Richard Balmforth and Thomas Grove (5 November 2014). "Ukraine peace plan in tatters, 'frozen conflict' takes shape". Reuters. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.