Kiev : The independence-seeking insurgents in Lugansk and Donetsk regions in eastern Ukraine Monday announced the final results of their contentious “presidential and parliamentary elections”.
In the poll, rejected by Kiev as ‘illegal’, Alexander Zakharchenko, the top rebel leader in eastern Ukraine, won the presidential election in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic with 78.9 percent of the vote, Xinhua quoted Roman Lyagin, the self-styled head of the Central Election Commission, as saying.
In the parliamentary race, the Donetsk Republic party, led by Zakharchenko, won with 68.35 percent of the vote, Lyagin added.
In Lugansk, another self-proclaimed people’s republic, Igor Plotnitsky, the self-styled defence minister, gained 63.4 percent to become ‘president’. Plotnitsky’s Peace to Lugansk Region party secured a victory in the parliamentary race with 70% of the vote, followed by the Lugansk Economic Union movement with 22%.
Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chiefs blasted Moscow’s recognition of separatist elections in Ukraine, saying the polls, which sought to put a legal veneer on the bloody pro-Russian rebellion, violated a peace agreement. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged Russia to respect the unity of Ukraine.
