Local elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic have been postponed from April 20 to July 24, 2016. This was reported on the official website of the DPR.

Zakharchenko's published decree states that local elections have been postponed from April 20, 2016 to July 24, 2016.

Back in January, Zakharchenko promised that local elections in the DPR would take place in April. “We are implementing the Minsk agreements, therefore, if we planned to hold elections this year, they will take place whether Ukraine wants it or not,” he said .

Local elections in the DPR and LPR are one of the most problematic issues in resolving the situation in Ukraine. According to the Minsk agreements, which were concluded in February 2015, elections in Donbass should be held according to Ukrainian legislation. However, Kyiv and the militias cannot agree on the terms of the agreement.

The authorities of the LPR and DPR unilaterally announced the holding of elections in the fall of 2015, but Kiev and the mediators regarded this as a breakdown of the Minsk agreements. After the Paris meeting of the Normandy Four leaders in October, the militia decided to postpone the elections : in the LPR to February ( and later to April ), and in the DPR to April 2016.

DPR authorities decided to postpone local elections to July