A lawmaker says Russian parliament members will not go as monitors to the upcoming parliamentary elections in Ukraine.
Aleksei Pushkov, the chairman of the Russian State Duma's International Affairs Committee, said no members from either the Duma or the Federation Council will be at the October 26 elections due to security concerns.
Pushkov said that Russian legislators could have been part of an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) delegation that would monitor the election.
But he said Russian lawmakers "fear they will not enjoy proper security,
bearing in mind the conditions in which the election campaign in Ukraine is
proceeding and the extremely high level of anti-Russian sentiment."
The elections are being held to replace the members of the unicameral Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, for the first time since the ouster of pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych.