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Ukrainian parliament elections held in unacceptable way — Interior Minister Avakov

More than 400 cases were opened over election fraud, and some people were already arrested, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said

Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov Zurab Dzhavakhadze/TASS

Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov

© Zurab Dzhavakhadze/TASS

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“The constitution must be changed, and Ukraine must move toward a parliamentary republic and decentralization of power,” he said, adding the conception was put forth also by Petro Poroshenko’s Bloc and the president himself before the elections. The president’s representative Volodymyr Groysman supported and repeatedly presented it to the government. “If we move in this direction, there are no problems,” the minister said.

The elections to the Ukrainian parliament were held on October 26. According to the Central Election Commission’s report, Petro Poroshenko’s Bloc is the first for the number of deputies elected as self-nominees in constituencies and who were on the party list. The political force will be represented in the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) by 132 deputies. Ukrainian Premier Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s party People’s Front received 82 seats. Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy’s party Self-Help (Samopomich) has 33 seats, the Opposition Bloc of Yuriy Boiko 29, and the Radical Party of Oleh Lyashko has 22 seats. Yulia Tymoshenko’s Batkivshchyna will be represented by 19 deputies. Ninety nine seats will be taken by elected self-nominated candidates, including six from the Freedom party, and each of the Strong Ukraine, Agrarian, Right Sector and Will parties will have one seat.

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Ukraine crisis Ukraine Arsen Avakov Parliamentary election in Ukraine

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IN BRIEF: What Putin said about Russia’s new missile, and Moscow’s response to the West

Moscow used its new Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile in response to the West’s decision to authorize strategic-depth strikes on Russia