Mr Lavrov said that the contests in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions would be “important to legitimise the authorities there.”

The foreign minister added: “We expect the elections to go ahead as agreed and we will of course recognise the results.

“We are assuming that the vote will be free and that nobody from outside will try to wreck it.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Moscow would support the election, saying: “Russia does not have unlimited levers of influence and it is not worth exaggerating them.

“In this case, the main factor is not Russia’s influence but the decision taken by the leadership of these republics and these peoples.”

Both the authorities in Kiev and allied Western governments have insisted that the polls should not go ahead, refusing to recognise the depths of hostility and alienation felt by the anti-fascist resistance in the eastern regions.

Ukrainian diplomat Dmytro Kuleba claimed that Russian backing for the elections vote would “undermine the peace process,” noting that November 2 is far earlier than Kiev had laid down for consultations on limited autonomy.

However, the Russian-speaking people who reacted to the Western-backed coup d’etat that overthrew president Victor Yanukovych by declaring people’s republics in their regions are in no mood to dance to Kiev’s tune.

They have defended themselves against government-aligned fascist paramilitaries and assert the independence of the entity that they call Donbass.

Mr Kuleba complained that Moscow was jeopardising the ceasefire deal signed in Minsk.

“Russia’s intentions directly contradict the Minsk accord, undermine the agreed process on de-escalation and peaceful resolution, and continue to weaken trust in it as a reliable international partner,” he said.

The fascists, supporters of Svoboda (Freedom) and Right Sector, do not recognise the Minsk ceasefire and have continued to shell Donetsk.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko attempted to draw a parallel between the Donbass conflict and the Soviet Union’s second world war resistance to the nazi onslaught.

“For the first time in 70 years, we again must defend Ukraine, its territorial integrity and freedom,” he said.

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