"I’d say that local elections in the DPR are a threat to [Ukrainian President Petro] Poroshenko’s regime," DPR’s Alexander Zakharchenko told RIA Novosti. "As for attempts to disrupt the elections, the only way for the junta to do that is through military force."
Mayoral and district governor elections in the DPR are scheduled for October 18. The vote will be held a week before the nationwide Ukrainian elections on October 25.
Zakharchenko said the Donetsk republic would not take part in those because Kiev had been reluctant to discuss the terms of the vote with the DPR as required by the multilateral ceasefire agreement of February 2015.
Under the Minsk ceasefire deal, agreed on by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany in mid-February, Ukrainian authorities were to adopt electoral and constitutional reforms aimed at devolving power to regions, including in Donbass, before the end of 2015.
