KIEV

The Supreme Council of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic has announced it will hold presidential and parliamentary elections on November 2. 

The announcement on Wednesday came a day after Alexei Karyakin, the president of the Supreme Council of the Luhansk People's Republic, said in an interview elections in the city would be held simultaneously with those in Donetsk.

The council in Donetsk approved a resolution supporting elections for a head of the republic, which was unilaterally declared by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, to be elected on November 2, 2014.

At least 1,000 signatures are required to be a nominee for the head of the state, who must be older than 30 years and have lived in the republic for at least a decade.

 Thousands killed

 In addition, the supreme council also approved a resolution on how to elect deputies, stating they will need at least 1,000 signatures to race in the parliamentary elections.

At least 100 deputies are expected to be selected in the polls, a separatist spokesman said.

Citizens living in the government-controlled cities of Slavyansk, Kramatorsk and Mariupol, will also be able to vote.

Kiev and the rebels agreed a September 5 truce in the Belarusian capital of Minsk in a bid to end the five-month conflict which has left more than 2,500 people killed, according to United Nations estimates.

Unrest in the east has torn the region apart since April, when Kiev launched military operations in the two cities to restore government control after separatists declared independence. 

www.aa.com.tr/en