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| - More than one hundred Ukrainian lawmakers from President Volodymyr Zelensky's ruling party on Wednesday began a two-day visit to the conflict-torn east of the country ahead of local elections this weekend. The extravagant effort to drum up support for Zelensky's Servant of the People party before Ukrainians head to the polls on Sunday was criticised by some voters who said the lawmakers have failed to address underlying problems. Lawmaker Yevgeniya Kravchuk, who is travelling to the Donbass region with other members of parliament, told AFP that the trip was "recommended but voluntary". She said the aim of the trip was to have "direct communication" with the soldiers fighting on the front lines and locals, but said the visit was not related to the upcoming vote. Ukraine's army has been fighting Russia-backed separatists in the eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions since Moscow's annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014. Zelensky, a former comedian, won a landslide victory in 2019 presidential elections with ending the war a centrepiece electoral promise. His party has an absolute majority in the country's parliament, but is trailing in the east of the country behind pro-Russian political movements. Recent opinion polls show that only around 10 percent of voters in Donetsk and Lugansk support the Servant of the People party. During the trip, lawmakers will be divided into groups of between eight and 10, and will meet Ukrainian military near front line positions, Kravchuk said. Lawmakers will sleep in barracks or dormitories, she added. More than 13,000 people have been killed in the conflict between Kiev's army and the separatists. Kiev and its Western allies accuse Moscow of supporting fighting in the breakaway regions with troops and arms, a claim the Kremlin has always denied. ant-osh/jbr/dl
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