1ST LEAD Separatists kidnap Ukrainian election workers By Nikolaus von Twickel
Kyiv (dpa) – Separatists in eastern Ukraine kidnapped three election
officials, local media reports said Friday, in what seemed another
attempt to prevent the upcoming presidential vote.
Armed men on Thursday seized Dmytro Naboka, the head of Luhansk‘s
polling precinct 106, and two computer programmers, city council
deputy Serhiy Davidov told the local 0642.ua news site.
The men also took all the precinct‘s computers and documents, Davidov
said. He added that the victims were taken to the city‘s State
Security Building, which has been occupied by separatist protesters
since early April.
Leaders of the separatists, who control wide areas of Ukraine‘s
eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, have said they will not let the
May 25 presidential elections happen.
They have already occupied at least four election commission offices
in the region, including one in Donetsk.
The seizures dampen claims by Western and Ukrainian leaders that the
early presidential election will help end the bitter conflict between
opponents and supporters of the government in Kyiv, which came to
power after President Viktor Yanukovych‘s ouster in February.
Top contenders for the election are businessman Petro Poroshenko and
former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
A ruling by Ukraine‘s Constitutional Court published Friday
stipulates that the next president will serve a full five-year term,
the Interfax Ukraine news agency reported.
More than 100 lawmakers had asked the court for clarification after
experts voiced doubt if the winner of an early election can serve a
full term.
However, observers doubt that the elections can go ahead in the two
turbulent regions amid ongoing fighting between government forces and
insurgents.
The Ukrainian Defence Ministry said Friday that its troops repelled
three rebel attacks outside the separatists‘ stronghold of Sloviansk
late Thursday. It said there were no casualties.
The Ukrainian government has initiated a series of so-called round
table talks aimed at reconciliation. However, the first round on
Wednesday ended without results and no representatives of the
separatists attended.
Former Ukrainian president Leonid Kravchuk, who co-chaired the talks,
said Thursday that a fresh round would take place in the coming days,
possibly in the eastern cities of Donetsk or Kharkiv.
The United States dismissed criticism that they did not involve
pro-Russian separatists.
“Attendees agreed on a strong message of national unity, on a
universal rejection of violence,” said US State Department
spokeswoman Marie Harf on Thursday.