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Court bans massive political actions in downtown Kiev

The polling stations opened at 10:00 Moscow time in Ukraine. Ukrainian citizens will elect a new parliament of seventh convocation

KIEV, October 28 (Itar-Tass) — Overnight to Sunday Ukraine passed to the winter time turning the clocks one hour back. The difference with the Moscow time makes two hours now. The Ukrainian capital is just waking up. There are almost neither cars nor pedestrians in the streets. People are just meeting at the polling stations at the elections to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament.

On Saturday, the Kiev district administrative court banned any massive actions in the centre of the city until November 12. The only exception is made for state level events. The celebrations of the 69th anniversary of the Kiev liberation from the Nazi invaders on the Kreshchatik Avenue and the Maidan Square will be one of such events. The memorable date will be celebrated on November 6, but the authorities of the country and the Ukrainian capital decided to celebrate it ahead of time and to prevent the centre of Kiev from turning in a venue for political rallies. The point is that representatives of the coalition of the participants in the Orange Revolution applied for an indefinite action on the Maidan Square and in front of the Ukrainian Central Elections Commission. “Due to a potential threat of conflicts between the organizations with opposite positions, the court ruled to ban rallies in the centre of the city until November 12, inclusively,” the court said in the ruling.

The polling stations opened at 10:00 Moscow time in Ukraine. Ukrainian citizens will elect a new parliament of seventh convocation. The weather in Kiev is cloudy, but warm. Short rains are expected on Sunday afternoon. The coming of the winter is expected in western Ukrainian regions.

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