Ukraine Assesses Russian Elections in Illegal and Unlawful Occupied Territories

JAKARTA - The holding of Russian general elections in the occupied Ukrainian territory was deemed invalid, when local residents were 'forced' to vote in the contest.

Russia is holding general elections on March 15-17. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said Russia's elections in occupied Ukrainian territories were illegal and illegitimate, urging international partners not to recognize the results.

The ministry said the election campaign in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, which are partly controlled by Russia, as well as Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, was another demonstration of "Moscow's continued disregard for the norms and principles of international law". quoted from Reuters on March 15.

"Forcing millions of Ukrainian citizens living in temporarily occupied territories or who have been forcibly transferred to the territory of the Russian Federation to participate in the so-called 'elections' is also illegal," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry also asked Ukrainians still in the occupied territories not to participate in the vote.

Russian elections on the territory of Ukraine took place under extremely distorted and strict conditions. Many local residents fled the region or were deported by Russia following Putin's invasion two years ago, with reports of people being forced to vote. There are no international election observers in Ukraine.

The Russian government encouraged Ukrainians with billboards and posters to elect "their president" and "take part in the future of our country."

"This election is an extension of military occupation and war itself, and not an exercise of democratic rights," said Sam Greene, director of the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington, quoted by AP.

Apart from setting up polling stations, Russia also sent officers carrying ballot boxes to people's homes, arguing that it was safer for them to vote on their doorstep.

The Kremlin views the vote in occupied Ukraine as a "test of loyalty" for civilians and local elites, said Volodymyr Fesenko, head of Penta, a political think tank.

Polling stations are already open in Russian-occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. In Crimea, which was annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014, voting will open on Friday.

In the Donetsk region, the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, Vadym Boychenko, said his city was a symbol of Russia's "military nightmare" and its "broken electoral process".

He said a woman "accompanied by two Chechen military men with machine guns" showed up at his neighbor's apartment with a ballot box and explained that voting was not an option.

There have been numerous reports of authorities set up by Russia forcing people to vote, and threatening to deny health services or other social benefits to those who do not. More than two dozen Ukrainians who refused to vote have been arrested, according to human rights activists.

Separately, in a video address on Thursday, Putin urged people in occupied Ukraine, and in Russia, to vote, telling them "every one of your votes is valuable and significant."