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Donetsk Republic Leader Warns of Ukrainian Army Offensive on Election Day

© Sputnik / Gennady Dubovoy / Go to the mediabankA cemetery where militia men of the Donetsk People's Republic were buried
A cemetery where militia men of the Donetsk People's Republic were buried - Sputnik International
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Alexander Zakharchenko said that Kiev might set out on an offensive to disrupt local elections in the Donetsk People's Republic in October.

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DONETSK (Sputnik) — The leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) confirmed on Saturday the east Ukrainian breakaway region would go ahead with local elections in October, and warned that Kiev might launch a military offensive to disrupt the vote.

"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.

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The DPR leader accused Ukrainian lawmakers of passing a local elections law without discussing it with the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, which were to be granted a special status.

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.

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