Moscow is prepared to orchestrate local elections in the “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk (“DPR, LPR”), separately from Ukraine’s upcoming local elections. Donetsk and Luhansk announced this intention in early July (see EDM, July 9) and reaffirmed it during the Contact Group’s failed meetings in Minsk, on July 21 and August 4 (Interfax, Ukrinform, Belta, July 22, August 4, 5).
Donetsk and Luhansk do not make decisions independently from Moscow, even though their interests are the same. Separate elections, if staged, would further advance the process of “DPR-LPR’s” secession from Ukraine. Insofar as this threat can be taken seriously, it …read more
Source: The Jamestown Foundation
