Christian Borys has also been writing for RFE/RL about the run-up to the elections in Mariupol:
Six days before Ukraine holds its most extensive local elections since the Euromaidan revolution and the start of a war with Russia-backed rebels, antitank grenades slammed into an apartment house in the heart of this port city.
Nobody was hurt, but the attack was a startling reminder of the conflict that raged for months close to Mariupol, a major target that was hit by shelling several times but eluded the grasp of separatists who hold a large swath of southeastern Ukraine.
With the Kremlin's gaze turned to Syria, a cease-fire has held shakily since September, freezing the conflict in place and creating a faint chance for a settlement -- along with fears that violence could erupt again.
"I'm worried about some terrorist attacks during the actual election," says Olga Illuhena, 18, who plans to go to the polls with a group of friends "to feel safer."
Across the country, voter interest in the October 25 elections is high. After the promise of the Euromaidan protests, which drove President Viktor Yanukovych from power in February 2014 and raised hopes for a decisive turn toward Europe, the war with pro-Russian separatists, Russia's seizure of Crimea, and dire economic troubles have been a bitter disappointment for many.
But fears of war are just one of the worries hanging over Mariupol, undermining hopes that the city of sprawling steelworks and seedy docklands can escape a cycle of corruption and economic struggle that has gripped it since the Soviet era, when it was called Zhdanov, after a henchman of Josef Stalin.
Read the entire article here