Illegal elections in Donbas

On 2 November 2014 the authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics held elections for the parliaments and heads of these republics. According to available information, the turnout in the LPR was around 60%, and in the DPR around 75%. As expected, the elections were won by the present leaderships of the republics: Aleksandr Zakharchenko in Donetsk and Igor Plotnitsky in Lugansk. Despite fears, there were no provocations or terrorist acts during the voting, and the number of clashes with Ukrainian forces was slightly higher than in previous days. Ukraine declared the elections to be illegal; nor were they recognised by Western countries, the UN, NATO or the OSCE. In contrast, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russia respects the residents’ wishes as manifested in their voting, and that the region’s authorities had received a mandate to resolve the practical problems of restoring normal life.