“Crazy turnout”: Elections in Lugansk and Donetsk not recognized by Ukraine (PHOTO)

Donetsk-Lugansk, November 01 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Ryabov, Mikael Chagalyan) – On Sunday, in the territories of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions controlled by the militia, elections are being held for the heads of the proclaimed republics and new deputies of local parliaments. Official Kyiv and Western countries have already announced that they will not recognize the voting results.

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As a PolitNavigator correspondent reports from Donetsk, contrary to expectations, the situation in the city is calm—Ukrainian troops are making no attempts to break through the front. Voter turnout at polling stations is quite high, with people bringing their children. As usual, refreshments are available at polling stations, music is playing, and young people conduct exit polls as they leave.

So far, judging by the survey data, the current head of the DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko, is in the lead. He himself voted in the morning at the polling station on Pushkin Street in the presence of journalists.

In total, according to the DPR Central Election Commission, more than 1 million 100 thousand voters are registered. The elections are monitored by observers from the OSCE, as well as representatives of various organizations from Russia, Abkhazia, France, Spain, Italy and even the USA. Observers admit that they are pleasantly surprised by the organization of the elections.

It seems that Lugansk will show a higher turnout in the current elections than in Donetsk. In any case, according to City Council deputy Natalia Maksimets, today at the Lugansk polling stations there is a full house - people are lining up in huge queues.

“The turnout is crazy. The same as for the referendum on May 11. And it’s only morning,” Maksimets wrote on her social network page, posting pictures of queues in front of the polling stations. According to the deputy, these photographs are clear evidence that Luhansk residents support independence from Ukraine, and the elections are not staged for Russian TV, as they claim in Kyiv.