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Developments in eastern Ukraine

International observers violate Ukrainian law — Ukraine ambassador to UN

Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Yuriy Sergeyev says Kiev plans to declare about 70 observers from elections in Donetsk and Luhansk, including from the USA and Europe, persona non grata

© Stanislav Grigoryev/TASS

THE UNITED NATIONS, November 4. /TASS/. International observers who monitored the elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, entered Ukraine illegally and engaged in illegal activities, Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Yuriy Sergeyev said on Monday.

He explained Kiev’s plans to declare about 70 observers, including from the USA and Europe, persona non grata.

The Ukrainian authorities asked the governments of other countries not to send observers to the Donetsk and Luhansk republics. “People who arrived to monitor the elections represented nobody. They violated the Ukrainian law,” Sergeyev said.

A decision to possibly declare them persona non grata “is in the Ukrainian authorities’ hands,” he said.

On November 2, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) launched a criminal case into holding elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. “The criminal case has been launched under Part 1, Article 109 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (actions aimed at forcibly changing or overthrowing the constitutional order or seizing power),” the Security Service said in a report.

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