The Russian Federation has announced the holding of "elections" for local occupation administrations in the temporarily occupied parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions of Ukraine, as well as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol from September 8 to 10, 2023.
This was stated in a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Russia’s pseudo-elections in the temporarily occupied territories are meaningless. They will have no legal consequences and will not lead to a change in the status of the Ukrainian territories occupied by the Russian army. By organizing fake elections in Ukrainian regions and Crimea, the Kremlin continues to delegitimize the Russian legal system”, the statement says.
Such actions by the Russian Federation violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, Ukrainian legislation, and international law, including the UN Charter. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine calls on international partners to condemn Russia’s baseless and arbitrary actions and not to recognize the legitimacy of any “administration” that will be formed as a result of illegal elections, as well as any decisions made by them.
“Individuals involved in organizing these pseudo-elections, including the leadership of the Russian Federation, representatives of occupation administrations, and electoral structures, must be held accountable. We also initiate the imposition of new international sanctions on them”, the Ministry stated.
Earlier, Blinken announced that anyone who supports Russian pseudo-elections in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine may be subject to US sanctions. According to Blinken, the conduct of pseudo-elections by Russia is a “propagandistic measure”. In this way, the Kremlin seeks to strengthen Russia’s illegitimate claims to the parts of Ukraine it occupies.
Photo: Open sources
