Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has commented on the start of Russia’s State Duma ‘elections’ in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. They will run from today, 18 September, until the 20th.
“This is a farce by the occupying state, which has nothing to do with democratic elections and creates no legal grounds whatsoever for extending Russia’s jurisdiction to any part of Ukraine’s territory,” the ministry said, adding that since 2014 the only legitimate outcomes of votes concerning Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories have been the results displayed on the UN General Assembly board — including when 143 UN member states confirmed the illegality of the occupation and demanded that Russia withdraw its troops from all Ukrainian territories within internationally recognised borders.
No “vote” organised by Russia at gunpoint changes the internationally recognised status of these territories, and temporary occupation does not confer sovereign rights on the occupying state.
Ukraine recognises neither the holding of these illegal “elections” nor their results. The state also calls on foreign countries, international organisations and other subjects of international law likewise not to recognise Russia’s actions and not to treat them as an expression of the lawful political will of people in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories.
“We warn against any participation in this illegal spectacle, which will have legal consequences in national and international jurisdictions,” the Foreign Ministry stressed.
The Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, as well as the temporarily occupied parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, are an integral part of Ukraine, and their liberation from Russian occupation is a necessary condition for restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders, including its territorial sea.
In addition, bringing into the Russian parliament representatives elected in illegal elections in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories and in other states further undermines the legitimacy of the entire composition of the State Duma of the Russian Federation.
“Any ‘elections’ in today’s Russia are nothing but a farce. After more than a quarter of a century of Putin’s rule, there is no democracy, freedom of speech, political party pluralism, or any respect for basic civil liberties in that country. We urge the international community to call things by their proper names: the so-called elections to the Russian State Duma are merely a performance designed to create the illusion of public support for the regime’s aggressive policy in Moscow,” the Foreign Ministry said.
- Yesterday, the Verkhovna Rada adopted an appeal to the international community regarding the holding of pseudo-elections to Russia’s State Duma in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories.
- The Security Service is urging residents of Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories not to take part in the illegal elections that Russia plans to hold from 18 to 20 September.
- In 2023, the Russians already held pseudo-elections in the temporarily occupied territories to regional authorities. At the time, representatives of the occupation administrations likewise included local residents in “election commissions” and campaigning teams.
- The Security Service of Ukraine stresses that such measures are illegal, and participation in organising them carries criminal liability. Intelligence also warned of possible terrorist attacks and is urging residents of the temporarily occupied territories to avoid places where large numbers of people gather between 17 and 21 September, “polling stations”, administrative buildings involved in voting, as well as the occupiers’ military facilities.