The “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk (“DPR, LPR”) have announced their intentions to stage local elections, outside Ukraine’s constitutional and legal framework, on their respective territories. This move continues the hollowing out of the September 2014 Minsk agreement by decisions of Moscow, Donetsk and Luhansk. Staging these local elections would mark a further step toward official secession by these territories, after their secession de facto from Ukraine.
Moscow has undoubtedly authorized the “DPR-LPR” to issue those election announcements. It is a retaliatory move. Kyiv has successfully resisted pressures to legalize the “DPR-LPR,” negotiate their “special status,” and coordinate with them …read more
Source: The Jamestown Foundation