Russia Declares Annexed Ukrainian Regions' Participation in Russian Presidential Election

Russian election authorities have announced that the 2024 presidential election will include balloting in four partially occupied Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed in 2022.

The Central Election Commission has adopted the decree to proceed with the vote in the Russian-controlled parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions. Balloting will also take place in the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, as per ABC News.

Russia's 2024 Election in Occupied Ukrainian Regions

(Photo : KIRILL IODAS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
This pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik shows Russia's President Vladimir Putin attending a flag-rising ceremony at the new Imperor Alexander III and Krasnoyarsk nuclear submarines at Sevmash shipyard in the Arctic port of Severodvinsk on December 11, 2023.

The announcement comes after Russian lawmakers set March 17, 2024, as the date for the upcoming presidential election. On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his candidacy, and he is all but certain to win another six-year term.

Head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, announced last week that the commission would make a separate decision on holding the vote in the four partially controlled Ukrainian regions because martial law is in place there. Russian lawmakers amended regulations earlier this year to allow elections in areas under martial law.

However, the decision has been met with strong opposition from Ukraine, which has condemned Russia's intention to organize presidential election voting in occupied Ukrainian territory.

Ukraine's foreign ministry stated that any voting in these territories would be "null and void." It said any international observers sent to monitor the Russian election would "face criminal responsibility." The foreign ministry has urged the international community to condemn Russia's intentions and impose sanctions on those involved, according to Fox News.

Ukraine Condemns Illegitimate Occupied Region Elections

The affected regions include Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk. The elections are scheduled from March 15 to 17, and the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has declared that any voting in these territories would be illegal and devoid of meaning, constituting a blatant violation of the established norms and principles of international law.

This is not the first time Russia has attempted to hold such pseudo-elections in Ukrainian territories. Russian authorities held elections in annexed regions in September for Moscow-installed legislatures, which Ukraine and its Western allies condemned as a sham. The West has consistently responded to Moscow's previous attempts at pseudo-elections in Ukrainian territories by imposing sanctions on Russian officials.

Vladimir Putin declared his candidacy for the Russian presidential election 2024 on December 8, seeking his fifth term in office. Putin has already reset his presidential terms in 2021, potentially extending his tenure until 2036. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed concerns about the legitimacy of Putin's victory and raised questions about whether Western leaders would recognize the election result.

In the ongoing increase of conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, this move by the Russian authorities is expected to further strain the relationship between the two countries. It remains to be seen how the international community will react to Russia's effort to hold the presidential elections in occupied Ukrainian territories and what measures will be taken to ensure the legitimacy of the election, Yahoo News reported.