KIEV, November 2 (RIA Novosti) – Kiev plans to declare international observers at the elections in the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk people's republics (DPR and LPR) persona non grata, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement Sunday.
The state security agency stated that the ongoing elections in Luhansk and Donetsk are illegitimate.
"[The elections] are held under the guise of foreign pseudo-observers that are already [declared] or will be declared persona non grata on the territory of Ukraine," SBU said in a statement.
On Sunday, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics are electing their regional leaders and legislative bodies.
One hundred observers from a number of European countries and the United States have arrived in the region to monitor the elections.
The authorities in the European Union and the United States, however, said earlier the elections would come against the Minsk agreements on the regulation of the crisis in Donbas, and that the international community would not recognize them.
Meanwhile, Russia has expressed its intention to recognize the elections in the self-proclaimed people's republics, saying not doing so would run counter to the Minsk protocol and disrupt the progress toward finding a sustainable political solution to the conflict.
