Top Russian Lawmaker Slams Kiev’s Plans to Blacklist Donbas Election Observers

MOSCOW, November 3 (RIA Novosti) – The head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the State Duma (lower house of parliament) stated Monday that Kiev resorts to only two response measures – the Wall and blacklists.
"Kiev wants to declare 70 observers from Europe and the US at the DPR/LPR elections persona non grata. It looks like Kiev has two answers to everything: the Wall and blacklists," Alexei Pushkov wrote on his Twitter page.
On Sunday, residents of the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DPR and LPR) went to the polls to vote for heads of local governments and representatives of local legislative bodies. The elections were monitored by one hundred observers from a number of European countries and the United States.
Also on Sunday, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) announced it was planning on adding international observers, who have arrived in Donbas (southeastern Ukraine) to Kiev's blacklist.
Kiev and several western countries have stressed that they would not recognize the results of the DPR and LPR elections, unlike Russia, which has expressed its intention to recognize the vote, warning that not recognizing it would undermine efforts to reach a peace settlement in Ukraine.
Kiev authorities and the West have been accusing Russia of meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs since the reunification of Crimea with Russia in March. Kiev is currently working on the "Wall" project, which presupposes constructing an actual state border between Ukraine and Russia.