Since the beginning of September, Russia has started conducting so-called elections in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Local residents are coerced into participating in the electoral process for the "parliaments" and "municipal councils" of the "new regions" of Russia, including the occupied parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson regions. These illegal actions by Moscow indicate further violations of international law by Russia.
Just a few months ago, the Kremlin talked about a conditional "single voting day" on September 10. Then, this day was extended to three days - September 8, 9, and 10. They decided to organize the "expression of will" in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine earlier and start the so-called early stage on the last day of summer. It was precisely due to concerns about not meeting the "voter turnout" plan that the Russians decided to extend the voting period. They realized that they would not be able to gather the required number of votes that would satisfy the Kremlin in three days, so they obtained additional time to falsify the fake elections. During the four-day early voting period in the so-called "People's Council of the DNR," the Russian occupation authorities fabricated a voter turnout of 37.56%.
Voting in these "elections" is done with any identification documents, including Ukrainian passports. This is clear evidence that the repressive and totalitarian Russian system was unable to force Ukrainians living under occupation to obtain a sufficient number of Russian passports.
Through these so-called "elections" in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, Russia is attempting to legitimize the seizure of parts of Ukrainian territories, as the "elections" will determine local governance within the legislative framework of Russia. Moscow aims to regulate the legal status of these territories in accordance with Russian regulatory norms. This effectively constitutes further steps towards the absorption of Ukrainian territory, the coercion of Ukrainian citizens in the temporarily occupied territories, and the continuation of armed aggression against Ukraine. It is so crucial for the Kremlin that the Russians are willing to conduct fraudulent elections even under conditions of martial law, which they declared in the occupied territories last year. Consequently, the organization and conduct of unlawful elections by Russia during active hostilities deliberately endanger the lives and well-being of the civilian population in the occupied territories. Such actions may be considered a violation of the Geneva Convention on the protection of the civilian population and may have signs of war crimes.
To legitimize the annexation of Ukraine's temporarily occupied territories on the international stage, the Russian government plans to ensure the presence of international observers loyal to Moscow. It is essential to note that the participation of representatives of foreign states and international organizations in observing these pseudo-elections will violate the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation (paragraph 11), which stipulates that no organization should send an international observation mission to a country if there is a likelihood that its presence will be seen as legitimizing an obviously undemocratic electoral process. Otherwise, such actions effectively constitute complicity in the criminal activities of an aggressor state. Therefore, the international community should recognize the election results in Ukraine's temporarily occupied territories as having no legal consequences. Consequently, none of the electoral bodies of the Russian Federation, where elections will take place in the temporarily occupied territories, can be considered legitimate.
The issue of holding "elections" in the temporarily occupied territories is used by Russian propaganda to create a vivid image of mass turnout at polling stations. Since a significant portion of the residents of these areas has left, the Russian occupation authorities are attempting to compel everyone who remains to participate in the elections. To achieve this, groups of collaborators and officials sent from Russia visit the homes of local residents to identify who lives there and whether these individuals possess Russian passports. The portrayal of people participating in mass events organized by Russian occupiers serves both as a demonstration for Russia's domestic information landscape and as a tool for information operations abroad or within Ukraine.
In essence, Russia aims to make the local population in Ukraine's temporarily occupied territories complicit in a crime against Ukraine's territorial integrity. Russia should face additional severe sanctions for attempting to conduct elections in Ukraine's temporarily occupied territories.
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