The organization of the so-called "elections" in the occupied territories of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions is a clear provocation of the Kremlin, which could turn into a new stage of strengthening the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

With such a position made during a public meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday, the permanent representative of Ukraine to the UN, Vladimir Yelchenko, reports Ukrinform.

"There are signs that these so-called" elections "may be a transitional stage for a new cycle of armed aggression of Russia," the Ukrainian diplomat said.

Yelchenko explained that, in fact, illegal elections in the Donbass "boil down to putting the leaders of armed gangs" in places in illegal representative bodies. "This is nothing more than a provocation and a challenge to the Minsk agreements and the sovereignty of Ukraine. It is a pity that the Kremlin has chosen the path of further escalation of the situation instead of the full implementation of the Minsk agreements, "Yelchenko said.