Russia Begins Early “Elections” in Occupied Donetsk Region: Armed Forces Go Door to Door

Russia has begun early “voting” in the State Duma elections in the occupied Donetsk region. So-called election commissions are visiting local residents at their homes, accompanied by security forces, as Moscow continues to impose its electoral system on the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory.

Russian media is writing about this.

According to Russian propaganda sources, there are 633 “polling stations” operating in the captured part of Donetsk Oblast. Each has two mobile groups that travel directly to people’s homes.

Each group includes two representatives of the occupation “election commission.” They form routes based on lists of so-called voters. Security forces move with the members of the “commissions.” The Russians explain their presence as necessary to ensure “security.”

Mobile groups of residents must be announced via loudspeakers and by local administrations controlled by the Russian Federation.

The occupiers are paying main attention to early and absentee “voting,” which will last until September 17.

Earlier, on August 30, the Russians organized a “vote” for their servicemen near the front line.

This year, the Russian Federation is trying, for the first time, to involve residents of temporarily occupied parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions in the State Duma elections. The Central Election Commission of Ukraine emphasizes that holding such “elections” is illegitimate, and their results will have no legal consequences.

In particular, in the occupied part of the Donetsk region, the Russians formed three single-mandate “districts” and registered 15 candidates. In the Luhansk region, they created two such “districts,” and in the captured territories of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, one each.