“Under the Barrels of Machine Guns”: Ukraine Reacts to Russia’s “Elections” on TOT
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has called the so-called “elections” to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, which Russia is holding on September 18-20, including in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, a farce. Kyiv stressed that it does not recognize either the vote itself or its results.
This is stated in a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
“This is a farce of the occupying power, which has nothing to do with democratic elections and does not create any legal grounds for extending Russia’s jurisdiction to any part of the territory of Ukraine,” the department said.
The Foreign Ministry emphasized that no vote organized by Russia “at gunpoint” changes the internationally recognized status of the occupied territories, and temporary occupation does not grant the occupying state sovereign rights.
“Ukraine does not recognize either the holding of these illegal ‘elections’ or their null and void results,” the statement said.
The Ministry called on foreign states, international organizations, and other subjects of international law not to recognize the actions of the Russian Federation and not to consider them as a legitimate expression of the will of the residents of the temporarily occupied territories.
The Foreign Ministry also warned against any participation in organizing illegal voting, emphasizing that it could have legal consequences in national and international jurisdictions.
The department emphasized that the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as the temporarily occupied parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, are an integral part of Ukraine.
In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the inclusion in the Russian parliament of representatives “elected” in illegal elections in the occupied territories of Ukraine and other states further deprives the entire composition of the Russian State Duma of legitimacy.
“Any ‘elections’ in modern Russia are just a farce. After more than a quarter century of Putin’s rule, this country lacks democracy, freedom of speech, pluralism of political parties, and any respect for basic civil liberties,” the Foreign Ministry stressed.
As a reminder, on September 18, “Pryamiy” wrote that voting in the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation had begun in the occupied Crimea. Local residents are calling the current campaign “the quietest elections.”
It also became known the day before that the Russian Federation had prepared over seven million ballots for voting in the occupied territories, while the lists formed by the occupation authorities had significantly fewer “voters.”
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