WORLD NEWS: RUSSIA TO HOLD PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN OCCUPIED UKRAINE

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Agency Report

Four Ukrainian districts that the Kremlin claimed to have annexed last year will host voting in the Russian presidential election, which is expected to see Vladimir Putin re-elected, Moscow announced on Monday.

Voting in March will take place in the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, which are still under Russian military control, according to the Central Elections Commission.

“The decision was adopted unanimously,” commission vice-president Nikolay Bulayev said, according to the state-run news agency TASS.

Critics of the Kremlin have said that the poll would be held over three days, from March 15 to 17, which will make it more difficult to ensure transparency.

Putin is anticipated to have little difficulty securing a fifth term because the majority of Russia’s opposition is either imprisoned or living abroad.

Without gathering signatures, five parties are permitted to nominate a candidate for the 2024 election. Everyone is in favour of the military invasion of Ukraine by the Kremlin.

“Resolutely condemn Russia’s intention to hold presidential elections in the occupied Ukrainian territories” is what Ukraine had earlier urged the international community to do.

Additionally, Kyiv demanded that the West impose penalties on those accountable.

In the past, Russia has conducted elections in parts of Ukraine that it has occupied; Kyiv and the West have declared these elections invalid.

In September, Moscow conducted elections for local officials in the four regions of Ukraine.

It had conducted a “referendum” to acquire the territory a year prior.

Kiev and the West also denounced both ballots.

After annexing the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine unilaterally in 2014, Russia has conducted elections there ever since.

AFP