People in the occupied Ukrainian regions are also called upon to vote for the Russian president. The government in Kiev speaks of a “farce”, Ukrainians report pressure.
When Boris Bessubko from Poltava wants to reach his mother, he never knows whether it will work. She lives in Russian-occupied Donetsk and the two keep in touch via messenger services such as Telegram and Viber.
Access via a somewhat protected connection is systematically disrupted by the Russian occupiers – this time it works and the retired teacher appears on the smartphone. She has not accepted a Russian passport and, as a matter of principle, she will not take part in so-called elections in her Russian-occupied homeland, she stated resolutely: “This so-called vote has already been carried out,” she says. “Very few people went here. We don’t have elections where you can honestly express your opinion. That’s impossible here.”
Before the compulsory vote, posters and slogans were put up all over the city of Donetsk, Larysa continues, and her mailbox is full of free newspapers with Russian propaganda.
Boris Bessubko keeps in touch with his mother, who lives in Donetsk, via smartphone. She doesn’t want to take part in the presidential election.
Kuleba speaks of “further farce” by Russia
Millions of Ukrainians in Russia and the Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories are being forced into pseudo-elections, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. The events are another “farce” that Russia will then call elections.
“I would like to make it clear once again that the current Russian dictatorship has nothing to do with elections or democracy,” said Kuleba.
Ukraine: Do not recognize sham elections
The simulated presidential elections are a criminal act in the occupied parts of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson Zaporizhzhia and on the Crimean peninsula. All of this is another blatant disregard for international law, Kuleba said. The international community should not recognize the pseudo-presidential election, said the Foreign Minister and appealed, among other things, to the media to avoid the illusion of an electoral process.
Democratic countries should not recognize the illegal and unlawful process as an election, this was also emphasized by the human rights commissioner of the Ukrainian parliament, Dmytro Lubinets. The Russian Federation will then tell the international environment the following: Even if the territories were illegally conquered, Russia had established its power there. “Russia will say: ‘We even held elections there, presidential elections of the Russian Federation took place there.'”
Moscow paints a different picture
Meanwhile, Russian propaganda state television asked two apparently satisfied women from occupied Donetsk. The elections are primarily about the future of children, says one. The republic is on the right path and Putin is the right man to be elected. The second also praised the Russian ruler: “Thanks to Putin we get our pension and in Donetsk it is quiet and everything is good.”
Ukrainian human rights chief Dmytro Lubinets called this a distorted reality and highlighted the occupation pressure on people in Russian-occupied territories. “The problem is that people in the temporarily occupied territories are forced to participate in one way or another,” Lubinets said. “It is very important for us to differentiate these responsibilities.”
Is Russia just simulating participation?
The “Center of National Resistance” of the Ukrainian army also stated that the sham elections were taking place under duress, which, among other things, posted examples online. In order to simulate a high level of participation, around 100,000 Russians were brought into the occupied territories and filmed. Workers from Central Asia without a Russian passport would also vote, and the mock vote would be spread over weeks, restricting voters’ rights.
People would be monitored by video at polling stations and forced to take part. “We don’t have freedom of the press or freedom of expression,” once again confirmed the retired teacher Larysa from Donetsk, which has long been documented, including by numerous Ukrainian human rights organizations such as Zmina. She supports Ukraine, but she cannot express herself freely in Russian-occupied Donetsk.
“I can only talk to people who I know have relatives in Ukraine or are internally displaced,” says Larysa. “Because we have common problems. We worry about our relatives. But families of mobilized soldiers from the Russian army, for example, live in our house. We only talk about banal issues, like heating. Nothing more.”
Andrea Beer, ARD Kiev, tagesschau, March 15, 2024 10:40 p.m
More and more uncertainty
Larysa’s son Boris left his hometown years ago, but she has been staying in Donetsk since 2014. Her 90-year-old father wants to stay and she doesn’t want to leave him alone. There are problems with electricity, currently only three hours of water per day, and since the major Russian invasion she has only worked sporadically to supplement her pension, says the former teacher, but everything has become more expensive and salaries have become lower and lower.
She sees few people on the street and many wounded and mutilated men. She has never seen her little granddaughter in Poltava – and even though it is not safe, she keeps in touch with her son Boris. “What happens next is uncertain, and the longer it takes, the more problems will arise,” she says. “So far we can still communicate, but I don’t know what will happen next.”
Elections in Russia
The presidential election process implemented in Russia between March 15 and 17, in which Vladimir Putin wants to achieve a fifth term in office, does not meet democratic standards. The three candidates admitted alongside Putin, Nikolai Kharitonov (Communist Party), Leonid Slutsky (right-wing populist LDPR) and Vladislav Dawankov (Vice-Chairman of the Duma, candidate of the economically liberal “New People”) are part of the system opposition, real opponents of the Kremlin and the war of aggression against it Ukraine were not accepted as candidates.
Voting will also take place in the occupied territories of Ukraine – under questionable circumstances.
There had hardly been an actual election campaign in advance, but there were reports from independent journalists about pressure on civil servants and employees of state-owned companies to register to vote and to bring at least ten people with them.
There are high hurdles for independent election observers, for example the “Golos” organization was branded as a “foreign agent” several times and disbanded. Those announced from abroad are primarily representatives from states that have strong sympathies for the Russian leadership, such as Serbia, or are themselves governed in an autocratic to dictatorial manner (Venezuela, Myanmar, Cameroon). Three AfD MPs want to travel from Germany as “experts on democracy”.
In previous elections in Russia, there had always been reports and videos of evidence of manipulation of the ballot boxes, multiple voting or incentives such as lavish buffets from the ruling party “United Russia” at polling stations. Protests are quickly stopped by security forces and usually result in criminal prosecution.
Experts therefore speak of a sham election in which the desired result – a victory for Putin and another term as president – is already certain and is simply to be achieved through a show of strength by the state apparatus.
Jasper Steinlein, tagesschau.de