Elections with ambiguous scores. But with what legitimacy? Moscow claimed Sunday evening the victory of Vladimir Putin’s party in the elections organized in the territories annexed to Ukraine, with more than 70% of the vote. These ballots are considered “illegal” by kyiv and its allies.
Russia’s Central Election Commission said Sunday evening that the Russian president’s United Russia party came first in these regional elections in the four territories annexed to Ukraine. The President of the Electoral Commission, Ella Pamfilova, welcomed the elections which took place “dynamically, with few violations”.
Occupation authorities present semblance of normalcy
With these elections spread over three days, from Friday to Sunday, Moscow is trying to legitimize its annexations in Ukraine by voting in the occupied territories in the east and south. Despite strong condemnations from the West, Russia proclaimed in September 2022 the annexation of four Ukrainian territories that it only partially controls (Zaporijjia, Kherson, Donetsk and Lugansk), following “referendums” not recognized by the International community.
The fighting is still raging there and the Ukrainian army has launched a counter-offensive. In the four annexed Ukrainian regions, the occupation authorities have bent over backwards to present a semblance of normality, despite the ongoing fighting.
The Russians also voted on Sunday in these regional elections without suspense, in a context of muzzled opposition, where critical voices of the Ukrainian conflict are unceremoniously repressed. For more than a year and a half, thousands of Russians have in fact been sentenced, sometimes to heavy sentences, for protesting against the offensive in Ukraine. And no real opposition “outside the system” is represented: the opponents are either in prison or in exile.