The territories affected by the concerned legal framework (“certain territories”) are within the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts (regions) in eastern Ukraine, in close proximity to the parts of these oblasts which are under ongoing armed conflict and other hostilities and which have been declared by the Ukrainian Parliament as temporarily occupied territories. As ODIHR and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) have noted in recent election observation reports, “although a nominal ceasefire has been in effect for five years, the situation in conflict-affected parts of eastern Ukraine remains tense and volatile and is characterised by persistent attacks on fundamental freedoms and a deteriorating humanitarian situation.” National and local elections have not been held in those parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts declared by the Ukrainian Parliament as temporarily occupied territories. With very limited exception, the 2019 national elections were conducted in the government-controlled areas affected by the conflict. However, this significantly changed during the conduct of the 2020 local elections as discussed below.