Ruslan Tatarinov, the Head of the Headquarters of Party A JUST RUSSIA and the Secretary of the JR Presidium who was a JR observer at the elections in DPR and LPR commented on the elections in Donbas:

We visited the village of Georgievka and cities Lutugino and Antratsit during the first part of the day, and were issued observers certificates. There was a strong bombardment in Georgievka during a combat activity, and you can see a lot of destroyed buildings there. The fighting areas can also be clearly seen, and according to the local residents, they were under occupation for about a month. As for Lutugino and Antratsit, there are actually no destroyed buildings there.

It struck our eyes that the polls were overcrowded. People were lining up outside. An incredible rush and massive participation. All this proves that the elections are free, and there is no compulsion at all. At the start, there were not many young people visiting the polls, mainly the middle-aged and the elderly ones. But by midday, quite a number of young people began to appear in the polls.

When you talk with people there, they willingly say they believe in the future. The traces of the war are gradually receding but they will remain deeply in the hearts of the people for long. Their souls are full of the pain they experienced during the occupation. The Chairman of one of the election commissions told us that judging by the lists of voters which they verified on Friday, people were just disappearing during the occupation when the National Guards of Ukraine were dominating. People were held without trial and court decision, and nobody knows where they are now. There are dozens of them.

As for the procedure of the elections, I’d like to mention that there is no early voting in DPR and LPR, only home voting. The local authorities feared provocations that’s why the polls were under protection of the people’s militia. In general, the atmosphere of the elections was calm, and there were no violations.