The parties of President Petro Poroshenko, Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klichko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk have joined forces ahead of the local elections scheduled for October 25. This is in order to defeat the Opposition Bloc, which is associated with the government overthrown in February 2014; oligarchic groups such as the Ukrainian Alliance of Patriots (UKROP), linked to Dnipropetrovsk-based businessman Ihor Kolomoysky; as well as more populist-leaning factions, such as the Radical Party and Yulia Tymoshenko’s Fatherland party. The Opposition Bloc is especially strong in Ukraine’s eastern areas, which are affected by the war with Russia-backed militants. A recent decision …read more
Source: The Jamestown Foundation