Russia’s Central Election Commission called on Thursday (15) local elections in the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow annexed last year.
According to information from the Russian agency Tass, members of the legislative assemblies and municipal representative bodies of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia will be chosen on September 10, along with the Russian regional elections.
The decision was sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “It was a very important and meaningful meeting. We are taking on a great responsibility and all election commission members understand that. For the first time, our new regions are holding elections jointly with the entire country. And give the green light [para isso] it is our right and duty,” Ella Pamfilova, chairman of the Central Election Commission, told TASS.
She added that these elections will be “very important” for the “political stability” of the annexed regions.
The regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were annexed by Russia after referendums considered irregular by the international community, held in September last year. Two of these regions, Donetsk and Luhansk, already had areas controlled by pro-Kremlin separatists before the invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022.
In April, Putin signed a decree providing that citizens of the four annexed Ukrainian regions could be deported if they refused to obtain Russian citizenship. The situation must be “regularized” with the Russian authorities by July 1, 2024.
Although Moscow claims sovereignty over these regions, parts of them are under Ukrainian rule and the area is the scene of the recent counter-offensive launched by Kiev.
#Russia #sets #local #elections #annexed #Ukrainian #regions