Incumbent PM Aleksandr Zakharchenko won Sunday’s elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine, taking some 75 percent of the votes. In Lugansk, 63 percent voted for the current leader Igor Plotnitsky.
“After processing all the ballots, Aleksandr Zakharchenko received over 765,340 votes,” said Roman Lyagin, the head of Central Election Committee.
Total voter turnout in the Donetsk People’s Republic reached 1,012,682.
Meanwhile, the lead in the parliamentary elections – also held on Sunday – has been claimed by Zakharchenko’s Donetsk Republic party, which has 662,725 votes, the head of the Election Commission added. The rival Svobodniy Donbass party has collected 306,892 votes.
In Lugansk, the incumbent leader and head of the Peace to Lugansk Region movement, Igor Plotnitsky, has won 69,42 percent of votes, while some 22 percent voted for its closest rival, the Lugansk Economic Union.
The self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk took to polling stations to vote for their leaders and MPs on Sunday. Over 360 polling stations were open in Donetsk for three million potential voters. Meanwhile, 102 polling stations for approximately 1.5 million voters were open in Lugansk.
Kiev has said it will not recognize the elections, as they contradict Ukrainian legislation. Ukraine’s Security Service has opened a criminal case against the organizers of the elections in Donetsk and Lugansk.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko condemned the elections as illegitimate on Sunday and called on Russia not to recognize the results. “I count on Russia not to recognize the so-called elections because they are a clear violation of the September 5 Minsk protocol, which was also signed by Russia’s representative,” he said in a statement.
However, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement late on Sunday saying that Moscow “respects the expression of will of the south-eastern [Ukrainians].” The ministry noted a high turnout and reminded that in the current situation it is “extremely important” for Kiev to work on conducting dialogue with the people of the region.
