Ukraine denounces "sham" elections in Russian-occupied regions

Russian-installed officials are holding what they say are local elections in the occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea regions, a process which Ukrainian officials have described as a sham, a farce and a propaganda move.

The so-called vote, which is taking place from September 8 to September 10 has been denounced by the international community and officials in Kyiv. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the so-called elections further violated Ukraine’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

“Russia’s sham elections in the temporarily occupied territories are null and void,” it said in a statement on Friday. “They will have no legal consequences and will not bring any changes in the international status of Ukrainian territories seized by Russian military forces.”

The statement further called on international organizations to denounce the so-called vote.

The Council of Europe said ahead of the so-called elections they were “a flagrant violation of international law which Russia continues to disregard," adding that the territories “will remain an integral part of Ukraine.”

But Russian-installed officials are pressing ahead, billing the so-called vote as a defining moment for the occupied regions.

Early voting has been taking place in most of the occupied Ukrainian regions, with officials going door to door, allegedly to facilitate the voting process. Russian officials have declared Friday a public holiday in a bid to encourage people to take part but local Ukrainian officials say the move is designed to keep people at home and facilitate coercion. 

“In those towns and settlement, which are close to the Zaporizhzhia frontline, the occupiers were going from house to house so that the residents can take part in the elections,” the Ukrainian Mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, said. “A group carrying a ballot box with at least two armed men were knocking from door to door, forcing to vote. There was no secret voting — the process was watched under the control, so that the check mark was put in the right spot.”

The Ukrainian head of the Zaporizhzhia region Yurii Malashko said the so-called election is “being held at gunpoint, a lot of cases known, where people are being told who to vote for and where the check mark to put.”

CNN could not independently verify Makashko and Fedorov’s claims but they match accounts of previous votes carried out by Russian installed officials in occupied Ukraine, since the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. 

The so-called vote is taking place at the same time as local elections in parts of Russia and observers and analysts believe it is designed to feign stability and normalcy in regions Moscow still does not fully controls.