Ukraine's Separatist Elections Confirm the New Normal

The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region will conduct elections on Nov. 2 — one week after Kiev held its own snap parliamentary elections Oct. 26 that yielded victories for pro-Western parties. The Donetsk and Luhansk elections will confirm and consolidate the positions of an internal political faction that took control of the pro-Russian republics in eastern Ukraine in late summer. In a broader sense, the elections will further cement the reality that these territories are outside of the Ukrainian government's control, contributing to what is shaping up to be the newest long-term frozen conflict between Russia and the West in the former Soviet space.