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Inauguration of new leaders of Donetsk, Lugansk republics due on Nov 4

The government in Kiev speaks about illegitimacy of elections in the two unrecognized republics, with the U.S. and the EU supporting the claim

© TASS/Valentin Sprinchak

DONETSK/LUHANSK, November 4. /TASS/. Inauguration of newly elected leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics will take place on Tuesday.

Alexander Zakharchenko, the incumbent prime minister of the Donetsk People's Republic, who was named the head of the region after winning by a landslide in Sunday’s elections, will swear allegiance to the constitution of the DPR and the country.

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“The ceremony will be attended by government member and deputies of the People’s Assembly who were elected to the country’s parliament from party lists during the November 2 elections,” the DPR press centre said on Tuesday, adding that the inauguration ceremony would be held at the Donetsk Drama Theatre.

The inauguration ceremony of the current leader of the Luhansk People’s Republic, Igor Plotnitsky, will take place in the pillared hall of the former Luhansk Regional Council in the city centre.

“Inauguration will be held in presence of ministers and the parliament,” Aleksey Karyakin, the head of the republic’s People’s Council, told TASS.

The November 2 elections of the Prime Minister and deputies of the People’s Assembly in self-proclaimed Donetsk brought victory to the incumbent Prime Minister, Alexander Zakharchenko, and the Donetsk Republic popular movement he stands at the head of.

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In another self-proclaimed semi-state entity, the Luhansk People’s Republic, elections were won by the current Prime Minister, Igor Plotnitsky, and his Mir Luhanshchine (Peace for Luhanshchina) public movement.

The first elections of Prime Ministers and legislators in the DPR and LPR were watched by representatives of the U.S., Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia and some other countries. They said upon the end of voting they had not seen any major violations and the elections stood fully in line with European electoral practices.

The government in Kiev speaks about illegitimacy of elections in the two unrecognized republics, with the U.S. and the EU supporting the claim. EU’s High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said the EU had no plans to recognize the outcome of the elections in East Ukraine.

The U.S., which said the elections contradicted the letter and spirit of the Ukrainian Constitution and the September 5 Minsk accords, condemned the fact they had been organized.

In contrast to the West, Russia believes that Sunday’s voting in the two self-proclaimed republics marked an encouraging step towards reconciliation in Ukraine. On the eve of the voting, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in an official statement the elections complied with the Minsk accords and offered a chance to put the situation in southeastern Ukraine to the track of a fruitful dialogue.

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