Voters are going to the polls in two regions of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia separatists. Kyiv as well as several Western countries, including Germany, have said they will not recognize the results, reports GHN based on DW.
The rebels who control the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republichave said they hope that Sunday's polls will help give their authorities a degree of legitimacy.
However, Kyiv and Western governments have said this will not be the case, at least in their eyes. Critics say the very manner in which the elections are being held undercuts any claim of legitimacy, in part because no voter lists were drawn up ahead of time.
The pro-Russia separatists who organized the elections have said that anyone inside the territories they hold, including foreign volunteer fighters, would be given the opportunity to cast ballots.
Kyiv has also said that the polls violate the Minsk ceasefire deal of September 5, which only allows for local elections to be held in accordance with Ukrainian law.
President Petro Poroshenko has described the polls as "pseudo-elections," while German Chancellor Angela Merkel used a conference call on Friday to urge Russian President Vladimir Putin to reconsider Moscow's decision to recognize the results. The European Union, Merkel stressed, would not recognize the elections.