Ukraine Election Officials: It May Be Impossible to Hold the Vote in Rebel Regions

With less than a week to go until Ukraine’s presidential elections, scheduled for May 25, the country’s Central Election Committee has said it may be impossible to hold the vote in rebel-controlled pockets of the country’s east due to “illegal actions” of separatists.

Three election officials have been kidnapped in the last week and two District Commission offices, tasked with organizing the vote in Donetsk, have been targeted by masked armed men, who in one case stole computer hard drives.

Last weekend the pro-Russia rebels, declared an official mandate for the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic after an alleged 90 plus percent of voters cast their ballots in favor of independence in a dubious referendum held under the security of armed militia. No independent monitors were present at the vote.

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The UN has published a damning report into the “alarming deterioration in human rights” in the region.

Violence against peaceful protesters, kidnappings and complicity of security forces in crimes are among the highlighted concerns.

Speaking to VICE news, a security source said that there is an “epidemic of crime” in the region, both political and random, where criminal structures are taking advantage of the “total breakdown of law and order."

On Saturday, the second round of “national unity” roundtable talks were held in Kharkiv, but the talks, which the rebel leaders’ were not present, are yet to make any concrete progress.

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Speaking at the conference, veteran German diplomat called on Ukrainians to use, “words and not weapons.”

But today, as a Kiev-backed anti-terrorism operation aimed at dislodging the rebels entered its second “active” week, there were more reports fierce fighting, this time around a Ukrainian military field in Kramatorsk.

According to a statement released by the Interior Ministry, Ukraine’s army suffered no losses, but killed one rebel and captured another.

In nearby Sloviansk, the rebels’ heartland, heavy shelling and gun battles between local militia and the army are a now nightly occurrence on the outskirts of the city.

More than a dozen are thought to have died on both sides since the anti-terror offensive was launched.

Russia has criticized the anti-terror operation being held during campaigning for the upcoming presidential election, which it says is being held “under the thunder of guns."

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On Saturday, Valery Bolotov, the self-appointed “people’s governor” of Luhansk was supposedly sprung free by 100 rebel comrades after he was captured by border officials trying to re-enter Ukraine from Russia.

The militia commander reportedly fled across to Rostov after being shot in the leg during a skirmish last week. According to the Ukraine Border Guard the rebel leader escaped after a “fierce gun battle.”

Other accounts, however, suggest the Bolotov may have been released after a bribe was paid.

Speaking to the BBC, Ivan Simonovic, a senior UN Official compared the situation in east Ukraine to his native Croatia, saying that there were worrying echoes of the wars in the Balkans during the 1990s.

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There is a real risk “the country is reaching the point of no return if there is no adequate or urgent action taken" he added.

Yet there are some signs that the conflict may be burning out, or at least reaching a stalemate.

In a bizarre video posted to YouTube, Igor Strelkov, the commander of the militia’s so-called “army of the southeast” complained that not enough men were signing up to fight for the rebels because “tens of thousands are calmly watching TV and drinking beer“ while expecting Russia to intervene on their behalf.

Follow Harriet Salem on Twitter: @HarrietSalem