Kyiv, 12 December 2023 (TDI): Ukraine strongly condemned Russia’s plans to hold presidential elections next spring in the occupied territories on Saturday, denouncing them as “null and void” and warned prosecution against any observers sent to monitor them.
In a statement released by the Foreign Ministry on Saturday, it said, “We call on the international community to resolutely condemn Russia’s intention to hold presidential elections in the occupied Ukrainian territories, and to impose sanctions on those involved in their organization and conduct.”
Furthermore, the Russian parliament decided on Thursday to hold the country’s 2024 presidential election on March 17. On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his candidacy for reelection on Friday, which he is certain to win for another six-year term.
The decision to hold the polling in the Ukrainian areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson is still being considered by Russian authorities. In September 2022, Moscow forcibly seized the four areas, but it only holds partial authority over them.
Vladimir Putin imposed martial law in those regions after that, and Russian lawmakers amended the law allowing elections in those areas.
Russian authorities held elections in the annexed regions in September for Moscow-installed legislatures; the votes were deemed fraudulent by Ukraine and its Western allies.
Moreover, Ella Pamfilova, Russia’s head of the Central Election Commission, said on Thursday that together with the Russian military, security forces and the Moscow-appointed governors in Ukraine, election authorities would decide by December 12 on “the possibility of holding” the presidential vote in the Ukrainian regions.
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“After weighting in all pros and cons, we will be making this decision. If we decide (to hold the vote), then the next step would be to adopt a plan for holding elections there,” Pamfilova told reporters.
She continued, “Of course, it will be somewhat different from the balloting in Russian regions, the law allows for it.”
The Crimean Peninsula, which Russia forcibly seized from Ukraine in 2014, will host the presidential election, according to authorities.
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