KYIV – On September 5, Ukraine officially entered the electoral period during which candidates and parties are allowed to campaign. Fifty days later, on October 25, local elections will take place across the country. For the first time, voters will choose leaders of united territorial communities, a new form of the administrative cell created by decentralization reform. As in previous local elections, Ukrainians will also elect deputies to village, settlement and city councils, deputies to raion councils, and deputies to 22 oblast councils.
Due to the temporary occupation of Crimea and some districts of the Donbas region, no elections will be held in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Sevastopol, and the temporarily occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.