KIEV, March 19 – President Petro Poroshenko has signed into law a bill amending Article 10 of Ukraine's law granting special 'self-rule' status to certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

"The law, which was passed by the Verkhovna Rada yesterday, is aimed at normalizing the social and political situation and restoring the proper functioning of local governance bodies in the aforementioned territories by holding snap elections of the legislative councils in districts, cities, city districts and villages, as well as the heads of villages and cities," according to a report published on the Ukrainian president's website on Wednesday evening.