Ukraine's Local Elections 2020: Live Updates

October 23, 2020
On 25 October Ukraine is going to hold local elections. Follow our live updates to stay informed about what's happening at polling stations and beyond.
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On 25 October Ukraine is going to hold local elections. Ukrainians will cast their ballots to elect members of the village and city councils, as well as village and city mayors. In the case of mayors, if a candidate does not win more than 50% of the votes on 25 October, there will be a second round.

On the very same day, at the initiative of President Zelensky, there will be a national survey where authorities will seek Ukrainians’ opinions on five different issues. Volunteers in labeled garments will work at polling stations, interviewing voters after they cast their ballots at local elections.

UkraineWorld will closely follow all the important news related to the electoral process. Follow our live updates to stay informed about what's happening at polling stations and beyond.


Exit-polls updates:

Practically all key mayors are far ahead of their competitors, according to exit polls. The ruling party Servant of the People fails to win the mayor post in any of the big cities. Take a look:

  • Kyiv - incumbent mayor Vitaliy Klychko gets 50.6% of votes (exit-poll by Rating Group)
  • Odesa - incumbent mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov gets 34,4% of votes (exit-poll by Savik Shuster Studio and "Ukraina 24" TV channel)
  • Kharkiv - incumbent mayor Hennadiy Kernes gets 57,9% of votes (exit-poll by Savik Shuster Studio and "Ukraina 24" TV channel)
  • Dnipro - incumbent mayor Borys Filatov gets 44,47% of votes (exit-poll by Savik Shuster Studio and "Ukraina 24" TV channel)
  • Lviv - incumbent mayor Andriy Sadovyi gets 41,12% of votes (exit-poll by Savik Shuster Studio and "Ukraina 24" TV channel)
  • Mykolaiv - incumbent mayor Oleksandr Senkevich gets 40,78% of votes (exit-poll by Savik Shuster Studio and "Ukraina 24" TV channel)
  • Cherkasy - incumbent mayor Anatoliy Bondarenko gets 32,66% of votes (exit-poll by Savik Shuster Studio and "Ukraina 24" TV channel)
  • Vinnytsia - incumbent mayor Serhiy Morgunov gets 68,8% of votes (exit-poll by SocInfo)
  • Kryvyi Rih - incumbent mayor Yuriy Vilkul gets 51,8% of votes (exit-poll by Foundation for Innovation Projects)
  • Mariupol - incumbent mayor Vadym Boychenko gets 69,05% of votes (exit-poll by Savik Shuster Studio and "Ukraina 24" TV channel)
  • Zaporizzhia - incumbent mayor Volodymyr Buriak gets 60,6% of votes (exit-poll by local TV channel Z)
  • Ternopil - incumbent mayor Serhiy Nadal gets 72,3% of votes (exit-poll by newspaper 20 minutes)
  • Khmelnytskyi - incumbent mayor Oleksandr Simchyshyn gets 81,13% of votes (exit-poll by vsim.ua)
  • Slovyansk - incumbent mayor Vadym Liakh gets 34,8% of votes (exit-poll by Analytical Bureau "Systema")

The ruling party "Servant of the People" shows quite modest results in the voting for city councils, according to exit-polls. Let's have a look:

  • Kyiv - 9,5% (3rd place after mayor Klychko's party "Udar" and Poroshenko's "European Solidarity")
  • Lviv - didn't pass the 5% threshold
  • Odesa - 15,95% (3rd place after mayor Trukhanov's "Trust the Deeds" party and Medvedchuk's OPSZ)
  • Kharkiv - 12,39% (3rd place after mayor Kernes' "Successful Kharkiv" bloc and Medvedchuk's OPSZ)
  • Dnipro - 15,21% (3rd place after mayor Filatov's "Propozytsiya" party and Medvedchuk's OPSZ)
  • Vinnytsia - 11.58% (3rd place after former mayor/prime minister Groysman "Ukrainian Strategy" party and Poroshenko's "European Solidarity")
  • Mariupol - 6,28% (4th place after mayor Boychenko's bloc, Medvedchuk's OPSZ and Sharij's party)
  • Kryvyi Rih - 32,90% (1st place) - but very close to mayor Vilkul's "Ukrainian Perspective" party (31,22%)
  • Ivano-Frankivsk - 5,4% (3rd place, after nationalist "Svoboda" party and Poroshenko's "European Solidarity")
  • Mykolaiv - 19,62% (3rd place, after Medvedchuk's OPSZ and "Propozytsiya" party, to which mayor Senkevich belongs)
  • Uzhgorod - 18,91% (1st place)
  • Cherkasy - 20,68% (1st place)
  • Chernivtsi - 14,74% (2nd place, after "The Only Alternative", a party of businessman Roman Klichuk)
  • Zaporizzhia - 18,9% (2nd place, after "Yednannia", a party of incumbent mayor Volodymyr Buriak)
  • Ternopil - 5,73% (3rd place, after nationalist Svoboda party, to which mayor Nadal belongs; and Poroshenko's "European Solidarity")
  • Khmelnytskyi - 11,76% (2nd place, after Komanda Simchyshyna, the mayor's party)
  • Slovyansk - 17,1% (4th place, after Medvedchuk's OPSZ, Party for Peace and Development, and Akhmetov's "Opposition Bloc")

6 November, 17:30 - Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klychko was re-elected with more than 50.52% of votes, 365 161 people cast their ballots in his favour, UKRINFORM reports with reference to the local election commission. The second place got Oleksandr Popov, ex-Kyiv administrator from "Opposition Platform – For Life" with 68 757 of votes, while the third place won Serhiy Prytula, Ukraine’s comedian, and volunteer from “Holos” political party with 56 900 of votes.

27 October, 17:45 - The Servant of the People party has said that it ranks first in local elections to regional and district councils based on data from 70% of polling stations, according to Ukrinform.

27 October, 16:20 - In Chornomorsk (Odesa region), the precinct election commission discovered the absence of a package with ballot papers in support of the Trust Deeds political party of Odesa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov, according to the OPORA civic network.

27 October, 14:40 - Zlatko Vujovic, Head of the ENEMO Mission to Ukraine stated that according to preliminary assessment, the 2020 local elections were generally free and competitive and well administered, although the process was affected by challenges mostly related to COVID-19, the complexity of the new electoral system, biased media coverage, allegations of vote buying and abuse of administrative resources.

27 October, 14:00 - Speaking on air at Hromadske Radio, Viktor Liashko, Chief State Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine announced that 50 people were taken to hospitals from polling stations, one person died during elections on 25 September.

27 October, 13:10 - Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister, called Ukraine's entry ban for two Hungarian high-level officials introduced because of their recent meddling in election in Zakarpattia Oblast “pathetic and nonsense”, Reuters reports.

27 October, 12:30 - According to a recent piece of news published on the Babel, Nelia Shtepa, notoious former mayor of Slovyansk, a city in Eastern Ukraine, arrested in 2014 for supporting pro-Russian separatism, did not get to the second round of local elections.

27 October, 11:50 - Ukrainian Pravda reports that a former MP and a murderer Viktor Lozynskyi, who was sentenced to 15 years for killing a man in the Kirovograd region, is now a potential head of Pidvysotska amalgamated community where he previously committed the aforementioned murder.

27 October, 11:10 - In his recent comment for RBK-Ukraine, Oleksandr Korniienko, First Deputy Chairperson head of the "Servant of the People" political party parliamentary faction, stated that the party would draw conclusions on elections’ results (ed.- party’s results are considerably low compared to a landslide victory in 2019). At the same time, an incumbent MP added that he did not see any preconditions for reformatting parliamentary coalition within the party yet.

27 October, 10:20 - During his recent interview with Interfax-Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, informed that 2 Hungarian high-level officials were banned from entering the territory of Ukraine due to their agitation in Zakarpattia at the local election process. In addition, Kuleba mentioned that another procedure on entry prohibition was initiated towards several more Hungarians who were actively interfering into Ukraine’s internal affairs during the election campaign.

27 October, 9:30 - According to lb.ua with reference to 99.5% of counted votes, incumbent Kyiv city mayor Vitaliy Klychko got 50.6% of votes. The recent news reads that 364 683 voters cast their ballots for this particular candidate.

26 October, 20:51 - The date for the second round of mayoral elections will be set up soon. According to the Ukrainian legislation, the second round should take place no later than three weeks after the official results are counted by the Central Election Commission, Channel24 reminds.

26 October, 20:05 - Ukrainian Foreign Ministry sent a note of protest to Hungarian ambassador to Ukraine and expressed concerns about the political affiliation of Hungarian officials during the election day. The ministry issued a statement, condemning foreign interference and agitation on the election day.

26 October, 18:59 - 46% of Ukranians would vote from home in 2020 local elections using e-vote if there was such an opportunity, Raiting poll indicated.

26 October, 18:24 NGO "Committee of Voters of Ukraine": lots of mistakes in printed ballots have been noticed. In some cases, the court may issue re-voting, Oleksiy Rybachok, analyst of the "Committee of Voters of Ukraine" commented for Oboz-TV.

26 October, 17:48 - Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Director of the OSCE ODIHR, said that a poll conducted during election day initiated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky partially created an undue political advantage for electoral participants from the ruling party, The Servant of the People. At the same time, Gísladóttir argued that elections have been fair and transparent.

26 October, 16:50 - Kyiv Oblast has been the most "dirty" in terms of electoral legislation violations, Ukraine's deputy interior minister Anton Herashchenko said.

26 October, 15:43 - The Servant of the People party published the first preliminary results of the all-Ukrainian "5 questions" poll initiated by President Zelensky (74% of the responses have been counted):

  1. Do you support the idea of ​​life imprisonment for corruption on a particularly large scale? — 82.97% — "yes", 13.87% — "no"
  2. Do you support the creation of a free economic zone in Donetsk and Luhansk regions? — 46.70% — "yes", 46.48% — "no"
  3. Do you support the reduction of the number of MPs to 300? — 89.60% — "yes", 7.12% — "no"
  4. Do you support the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes – to reduce pain in critically ill patients? — 64.88% — "yes", 29.53% — "no"
  5. Does Ukraine need to raise the issue of using the security guarantees set out in the Budapest Memorandum at the international level to restore its state sovereignty and territorial integrity? — 74.21% — "yes", 17.21% — "no"

26 October, 14:27 - NGO "Committee of Voters of Ukraine", as well as the Civil Network "Opora," recognized the local elections as "generally fair and democratic". The President-initiatied survey, on the other hand, were evaluated as controversial, since it "led to a number of conflicts and individual instances of electoкal law breaches."

26 October, 13:15 - The "Shariy Party", led by the namesake fugitive pro-Russian blogger who has been residing in Europe since 2012, has managed to secure participation in the city councils of sevreal major cities, including Kharkiv (with 6,41% of votes), Odesa (7,63% of votes), Mykolaiv (5,48% of votes) and Mariupol(6,2% of votes).

26 October, 11:42 - Nelia Shtepa, notoious former mayor of Slovyansk, a city in Eastern Ukraine, arrested in 2014 for supporting pro-Russian separatism, comes 2nd in the election of Slovyansk mayor, and enters the 2nd round, according to exit-polls by the "Analytical Bureau Systema", quoted by NV.ua. She gets 23.1% of votes, 2nd after the incumbent mayor Vadym Liakh (34,8%) representing Akhmetov-funded Opposition Bloc.

25 October, 23:57 - Voter turnout has been low: 37%. The highest turnout was in the Western Ukraine, in Ternopil oblast (46,87%); the lowest in government-controlled Donetsk oblast (31,67%).


25 October, 23.03 - The ruling party "Servant of the People" shows quite modest results in the voting for city councils, according to exit-polls. Let's have a look:

  • Kyiv - 9,5% (3rd place after mayor Klychko's party "Udar" and Poroshenko's "European Solidarity")
  • Lviv - didn't pass the 5% threshold
  • Odesa - 15,95% (3rd place after mayor Trukhanov's "Trust the Deeds" party and Medvedchuk's OPSZ)
  • Kharkiv - 12,39% (3rd place after mayor Kernes' "Successful Kharkiv" bloc and Medvedchuk's OPSZ)
  • Dnipro - 15,21% (3rd place after mayor Filatov's "Propozytsiya" party and Medvedchuk's OPSZ)
  • Vinnytsia - 11.58% (3rd place after former mayor/prime minister Groysman "Ukrainian Strategy" party and Poroshenko's "European Solidarity")
  • Mariupol - 6,28% (4th place after mayor Boychenko's bloc, Medvedchuk's OPSZ and Sharij's party)
  • Kryvyi Rih - 32,90% (1st place) - but very close to mayor Vilkul's "Ukrainian Perspective" party (31,22%)
  • Ivano-Frankivsk - 5,4% (3rd place, after nationalist "Svoboda" party and Poroshenko's "European Solidarity")
  • Mykolaiv - 19,62% (3rd place, after Medvedchuk's OPSZ and "Propozytsiya" party, to which mayor Senkevich belongs)
  • Uzhgorod - 18,91% (1st place)
  • Cherkasy - 20,68% (1st place)
  • Chernivtsi - 14,74% (2nd place, after "The Only Alternative", a party of businessman Roman Klichuk)
  • Zaporizzhia - 18,9% (2nd place, after "Yednannia", a party of incumbent mayor Volodymyr Buriak)

25 October, 22:21 - Practically all key mayors are far ahead of their competitors, according to exit polls. Take a look:

  • Kyiv - incumbent mayor Vitaliy Klychko gets 47,8% of votes (exit-poll by Rating Group)
  • Odesa - incumbent mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov gets 34,4% of votes (exit-poll by Savik Shuster Studio and "Ukraina 24" TV channel)
  • Kharkiv - incumbent mayor Hennadiy Kernes gets 57,9% of votes (exit-poll by Savik Shuster Studio and "Ukraina 24" TV channel)
  • Dnipro - incumbent mayor Borys Filatov gets 44,47% of votes (exit-poll by Savik Shuster Studio and "Ukraina 24" TV channel)
  • Lviv - incumbent mayor Andriy Sadovyi gets 41,12% of votes (exit-poll by Savik Shuster Studio and "Ukraina 24" TV channel)
  • Mykolaiv - incumbent mayor Oleksandr Senkevich gets 40,78% of votes (exit-poll by Savik Shuster Studio and "Ukraina 24" TV channel)
  • Cherkasy - incumbent mayor Anatoliy Bondarenko gets 32,66% of votes (exit-poll by Savik Shuster Studio and "Ukraina 24" TV channel)
  • Vinnytsia - incumbent mayor Serhiy Morgunov gets 68,8% of votes (exit-poll by SocInfo)
  • Kryvyi Rih - incumbent mayor Yuriy Vilkul gets 51,8% of votes (exit-poll by Foundation for Innovation Projects)
  • Mariupol - incumbent mayor Vadym Boychenko gets 69,05% of votes (exit-poll by Savik Shuster Studio and "Ukraina 24" TV channel)

25 October, 22:19 - Central Election Commission is expecting to publish final results of the election in 3-5 days.

25 October, 21:50 - Sociological Group "Rating" published the findings of its exit-poll with regard to President Zelensky-initiated national survey. According to the Group, 81% of respondents supported life imprisonment for massive corruption, 45% supported establishment of a free economic zone in Donbas, 95% favoured reduction of MPs'number to 300, 70% said "yes" to legalization of medical cannabis and 78% - to the invocation of Budapest memorandum.

25 October, 21:30 - Elections in Kharkiv basically came down to a standoff between two candidates: Hennadiy Kernes, the sitting mayor who ran from his own party and reviously aligned himself with pro-Russian "Opposition Bloc", and Oleksandr Feldman, Kharkiv-based oligarch associated with "Opposition Platform" party led by Viktor Medvechuk, Putin's best friend in Ukraine. According to the first exit polls, Kernes received 57,9% of votes, whereas Feldman - 12,12%.

25 October, 21:07 - Accoding to the exit poll conducted by Sociological Group "Rating" in Kyiv, incumbent mayor Vitaliy Klychko won 47,8% of votes. He is followed by Oleksandr Popov, former head of Kyiv City State Administration running from the "Opposition Platform" (8,6%) and Serhiy Prytula, famous showman and volunteer running from "Holos" (8,3%).

25 October, 20:45 - Odesa was one of the major battlegrounds in these elections. The frontrunners included Hennadiy Trukhanov, incumbent mayor running from his own party (who had run for MP from the "Opposition Block" in 2019, though); Oleg Filimonov, famous actor and comic running from the "Servant of the People" party, and Mykola Skoryk, running from the Opposition Platform". According to an the exit poll done by 24 Channel together with Savik Shuster's studio, Trukhanov boasts 34,40%, Skoryk has 17,93% and Filimonov - only 13,75%.

25 October, 20:23 - As of 20:00 polling stations all over Ukraine are closed.

25 October, 19:56 - Oleksandr Kliuzhev, a member of civil network OPORA, acknowledges that in general the voting is being held in line with electoral legislation.

25 October, 19:39 - 3 members of district election commission in Kropyvnytskiy were tested positive for coronavirus, OPORA civil network informs. As it is reported, the commission resumed its work after the premises had been disinfected.

25 October, 19:21 - 3689 reports about violations during the voting day were registered by National Police as of 18:00. The vast majority of the reports related to political agitation, which is prohibited at the day of elections.

25 October, 18:50 - Today, Hungary’s foreign minister Péter Szijjártó called to support KMKSZ-Hungarian Party in Ukraine at the local elections. He also urged voters to back current mayor of Berehove, city situated in Zakarpattia oblast, Zoltán Babják.

25 October, 18:22 - Olga Aivazovska, the head of the board of civil network OPORA, informs that the voters turnout is 27% as of 16:00.

25 October, 17:43 - As of 13:00, voters turnout on the elections in Ukraine is 17,3%, while in Kyiv is 16,2%, Central Election Commission reports.

25 October, 17:18 - Civil network OPORA informs that President Zelensky-initiated national poll is being conducted only near 55% of all polling stations in Ukraine. The highest number of polling stations covered by national poll volunteers is recorded on the country’s South (78,65%), while the lowest number is in the Western Ukraine (37,81%).

25 October, 16:48 - There is a little chance having the competitive mayor election in Vinnytsya this year. The current mayor Serhiy Morgynov had an enormous lead in the poll, conducted by the Rating group in September. He had 72,9% of support, while his rivals were polling less than 10%.

25 October, 16:05 - In Kherson, the key intrigue is whether an incumbent MP Ihor Kolykhaev, representing "Nam Tut Zhyty" party will be challenged by Volodymyr Saldo, who represents Blok Saldo, his own political party. The poll conducted by Rating group in Septemeber showed that Ihor Kolykhaev was leading with 23,2%. His rival Volodymyr Saldo was polling twice less: 13,4%. At the same time, if Kolykhaev gets more than 50%, there will be no second round in Kherson.

25 October, 15:13 - The voter turnout in Kyiv has reached only 16% as for 1 p.m. on the election day. It is worth mentioning that during the parliamentary elections to the Verkhovna Rada last summer the turnout in Kyiv has reached 20%.

25 October, 14:40 - The Central Election Commission of Ukraine: 2020 local election is one of the most complicated in Ukraine's history. The new legislation, the very first elections in the newly created administrative and territorial units, and Covid-19 pandemic made these elections one of the most unmanageable. More than 29 thousand polling stations have been set up within the country, RBK-Ukraine cited the briefing of the CEC Chairman.

25 October, 14:15 - Those Ukrainians who are willing to cast their ballots and have been recently tested positive for Covid-19 can vote remotely from home, Civil movement "Chesno" wrote. Such cases from Kharkiv and Zmiyinets village (Volyn oblast) have been noticed during the day.

25 October, 13:57 - the parents of President Volodymyr Zelensky took part in all-Ukrainian poll initaited by their son and answered all 5 questions on the list, Radio Svoboda reports.

25 October, 13:34 - in Dnipro, another city with more than 1 million inhabitants, Borys Filatov, its current mayor, and Proposytsia, his party, are experiencing comfortable lead over the closest competitors, according to late-August data presented by Rating sociological group. Key intrigue in this regard seems to be whether Filatov is strong enough to win the elections already in the 1st round.

25 October, 13:13 - in Tyvriv, Vinnytsia oblast, one of the polling stations was closed after the call about the bomb threat, a civil network OPORA reports.

25 October, 12:59 - in Odesa oblast, a Russian citizen was arrested over the alleged attempts to bribe the voters, Ihor Klymenko, head of National Police, said during the briefing. As he added, UAH400 was suggested to each voter by the arrested suspect to vote for the “right candidate.”

25 October, 12:26 - in Kyiv, current city mayor Vitaliy Klychko enjoys enormous support of Ukrainian capital residents. The poll conducted by Rating, a sociological group, in early September showed incumbent mayor is a clear front-runner with other candidates lagging behind. Main intrigues in Kyiv are whether the 2nd round will be needed and who will be Klychko’s opponent in this regard.

25 October, 11:43 - Responding to the intentions to cancel the 2nd round of local elections, Dmytro Razumkov, Head of Verkhovna Rada, expressed no doubts that it would be held. “For sure, 2nd round should be held because the communities cannot be without legitimate power. It is important for the whole vertical of power structure to work for the common result,” Razumkov stressed.

25 October, 11:19 - as of 10:00 am, 4 polling stations – in Donetsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zhytomyr and Poltava oblasts – did not start their work, Serhiy Yaroviy, first deputy head of ministry of internal affairs, said during today’s briefing. According to him, 6 criminal proceedings have been opened.

25 October, 10:57 - according to the election monitors, the most widespread violations of the electoral process so far are:

  • polling stations not being opened in time;
  • the lack of polling booths and voting boxes on some polling stations;
  • the lack of ballots on some polling stations;
  • disregard of quarantine measures by the members of the electoral commissions and voters.

25 October, 10:36 - 140 thousand law enforcement officials secure the order during the local elections, Ukraine's first deputy interior minister Serhiy Yarovyi said. He also noted that the national police have already received 383 claims and reports about the violation of the electoral law on 25 October.

25 October, 10:28 - apparently, anyone can answer the "5 questions" of President Zelensky more than one time.

25 October, 10:19 - Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's President, and Olena Zelenska, the First Lady, voted.

25 October, 10:16 - Ihor Klymenko, the head of Ukraine's national police, said on a briefing in Kyiv thatUkrainians have been actively selling and buying votes on Telegram. However, according to Klymenko, "everything is under control."

25 October, 09:46 - 41 international monitors from Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Germany, and Spain watch Ukraine's local elections. Additionally, 271 monitors represent different international organizations, including 88 monitors from the OSCE.

25 October, 09:38 - Vitalii Klychko, the mayor of Kyiv, will not vote today since he tested positive for coronavirus a few days ago.

25 October, 09:33 - Dmytro Razumkov, the speaker of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada, voted. However, he did not answer the 5 questions raised by President Zelensky because he could not find the volunteers at his polling station.

25 October, 09:14 - in Ismail (Odesa Oblast) the police detained 52 people sitting in a bus ready to go to Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi to vote for a certain candidate. People said that they were promised UAH 400 (around USD 14) for their vote.

25 October, 08:30 - these elections are the first ones in Ukraine's history with open party lists. This means that the voters can not only vote for the party but also choose a specific candidate on the party list they support.

25 October, 08:00 - the vote is now live all over Ukraine. The polling stations will be open until 20:00, Kyiv time.

24 October, 21:00 - The Central Election Commission of Ukraine will be updating the voting process online. Oleh Didenko, the CEC Chairman, will share the first news about the voting process at 10 am and will conclude at 10 pm. The live air will be abailable on Facebook and Youtube pages of the Commision.

24 October, 20:18 - In Chernivtsi, police will check the agitation objects theft notice.

24 October, 19:50 - In Kropyvnytskyi, police identified a voter bribery network. Intruders demanded a 500 UAH bribe for each casted ballot. Police opened an investigation.

24 October, 19:15 - Ukranians will not be able to vote on 25 October local elections without bringing a passport, either with an ID card or a paper-based document. Those who planned to use a passport via Diya application, will not be able to use it due to technial issues, RBK-Ukraine reminds.

24 October, 18:30 - In Mariupol (Donetst oblast), up to 200,000 possible fake ballots were printed, Ministry of Internal Affairs reports. Police will start an investigation.

24 October, 17:50 - On the eve of the election, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klychko, who is also running for another term, has been tested positive for coronavirus. He said that he was going to self-isolate and would work from home.

24 October, 17:20 - In Boryspil (Kyiv Oblast), a 27-year-old man organized a voter bribery network. He was collecting personal data from local residents who had promised to vote for a specific candidate. Police are identifying others involved in the crime.

24 October, 16:00 - As of this afternoon, Ukraine's police reported to have drawn up 54 reports on administrative offenses, with 275 records of violations, mostly related to the illegal campaigning.

24 October, 15:30 - Interviewers who will conduct the survey on behalf of President Volodymyr Zelensky will be interviewing citizens outside the polling stations after they vote in the election. Any form of campaigning on their part is forbidden.

24 October, 15:00 - Ukrinform reports that all polling stations in Kyiv have been supplied with disinfective and personal protective gear after local authorities allocated 1 million 300 thousand hryvnias to that end. It had previously been reported that no polling stations across the country had any such materials at their disposal.

24 October, 13:47 - According to Interfax-Ukraine, the survey initiated by President Zelensky will be carried out by a private company, since majority of renowned sociological companies will be engaged in exit-polls. Each polling station in Kyiv will be attended by two interviewers, whereas each station in the regions - by only one.

24 October, 12:30 - It is worth reminding that on the day of local elections Ukraine will also swtich to winter time. Please, bear this in mind with respest to the correct time of polling stations' opening and closure. This will help avoid crowds contributing to COVID-19 cases.

24 October, 10:05 - Ukraine's national police has alreadry registered 7877 claims and reports about the violations of the electoral legislation.

24 October, 09:35 - Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigations will open a hotline where anyone can report violations of the electoral legislation on the election day.

24 October, 09:10 - Today is the day of the "pre-election silence" in Ukraine. All campaigning is strictly forbidden. At the same time, during all the previous elections there have been cases of illegal campaigning on the silence day.

23 October, 21:40 - Over the past 90 days, more than 9 thousand Facebook and Instagram pages have launched ads related to social issues, elections or politics that were targeting the Ukrainian audience, Novoe Vremya resumed.

23 October, 21:05 - Facebook deleted a network of pages that distributed fake polls during the election campaign and used fake accounts (bots) to promote them, Civil Network "OPORA" reported.

Find out why Ukraine’s local elections are worth watching

23 October, 18:56 - The Security Service of Ukraine detained members of a non-governmental organization funded by Ukrainian MPs connected to the pro-Russian party in Ukraine called the Opposition Platform-For Life. The group was allegedly to take part in raids, rallies and protests. Ukrayinska Pravda reports that the MP, who controls the group, is Vladimir Putin’s key ally in Ukraine and the leader of the pro-Russian “Opposition Platform For Life” party, Victor Medvedchuk.

23 October, 15:45 - The voter turnout in Ukraine's local elections on October 25 may reach up to 40%, according to the head of the OPORA civil network, Olha Aivazovska.

23 October, 15:30 - Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) has done its best to prepare for possible cyberattacks on the day of local elections on October 25, according to NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danilov. He said this in an exclusive comment to Ukrinform. When asked whether an algorithm has been developed in the event of a massive cyberattack that could significantly affect the work of government agencies on election day, Danilov said: "We have a scenario for any case of life."

23 October, 14:30 - Observers, members of the commission in special polling stations, in particular, medical institutions and pretrial detention centers, must pass a PCR test, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said during a press briefing in Kyiv on Oct. 23.

23 October, 13:30 - As of Friday morning, no polling station was provided with temperature screening devices and disinfectants, Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denysova said.

23 October, 13:10 - The Servant of the People party would finance a nationwide poll initiated by President Volodymyr Zelensky on the day of local elections in Ukraine on 25 October, the party said in a statement on its Facebook page.

23 October, 12:20 - Ukraine is set to allocate UAH 37.4 million from local budgets for anti-epidemic measures during local elections, the Government portal reports.

23 October, 11:53 - During his interview with four national TV channels, President Volodymyr Zelensky unveiled the reasons for conducting all-Ukrainian poll on 25 October, at the very same day the local elections voting had been scheduled for. “I want to feel people, what people say, whether they support the idea […] I will understand people’s answer and will talk to MPs suggesting these positions,” Zelensky emphasized.

23 October, 11:21 - The Servant of the People, pro-presidential political party, has no plans to initiate cancelation of the second round of the elections because of COVID-19 outbreak, Iryna Vereshchuk, a candidate to take over the Kyiv city mayor office, told yesterday on air at 1+1 TV channel.

23 October, 10:38 - 395 reports about alleged violations of electoral legislation were sent to National Police on 21 October. The highest numbers were recorded in Odesa oblast (73 reports), followed by Kyiv and Kharkiv oblasts (35 and 30 reports respectively).

23 October, 9:56 - Yednist (Unity), the party led by former Kyiv city mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko, is suspected of bribing the voters. Thus, the respective investigative procedures are being held by law enforcement agencies.

23 October, 9:00 - In the run-up to local elections in Ukraine, Ministry of Internal Affairs - National Police, National Guard officers, as well as the represenatives of State Emergency Service and State Border Guard Service - has embarked on the high alert mode to curb any possible violations during the campaign and voting day, Serhiy Yaroviy, first deputy minister, said.