Today, the first elections of local leadership and deputies are taking place in 78 consolidated communities (CCs) in 13 regions. This is a new starting point for communities that will get new development opportunities, stated Hennadii Zubko, Vice Prime Minister/Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities of Ukraine.

"It is the Russian military aggression that hindered holding of first elections in communities of those regions, where the martial law was introduced. Amalgamation of communities and aspiration of people to build a successful future cannot be stopped! And we should not be disturbed by those political intriguers willing to undermine the trust in the reform. We have to be concerned only by brazen actions of the aggressor that have already influenced the course of the electoral process in the CCs. Therefore, it’s time to elect new leaders and managers who are ready to change lives for better on their territories with sincere desire to succeed," the Vice Prime Minister said.

Earlier, the Central Election Commission has postponed elections in 45 CCs in 10  regions where the martial law was imposed: Vinnytsia, Lugansk, Mykolayiv, Sumy, Odesa, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson.

After the elections scheduled for December 23, there will be established 805 CCs, which include over 3700 villages, town and city councils.

In total, 874 CCs were created in Ukraine.