Sergiy Tigipko, a Ukrainian parliamentarian and presidential candidate, said he believes the Party of Regions is partially responsible for the fact that the people of Donetsk and Luhansk do not feel safe now.

"I remained a member of the Party of Regions and its faction at the most difficult time. However, the party has now been turned into a branch of a specific financial and industrial group, a private enterprise. All decisions are made by one person. There is repression going on against people who do not agree with the party's policies. There is a real fight against dissent. Instead of renewal and democratization, which voters expect from us, cleansing is going on," Tigipko said in his address to his comrades released by his press service on Monday.