The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine welcomes the joint statement of the leadership of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of August 6, 2026, regarding the Russian Federation’s refusal to invite OSCE observers to the upcoming elections to the State Duma.

Russia's refusal to invite OSCE observers is another violation of the commitments undertaken by all OSCE participating States under the 1990 Copenhagen Document. The upcoming elections will be the third consecutive nationwide electoral process in the Russian Federation held without independent OSCE observation. This deprives voters and the international community of the opportunity to obtain an objective assessment of the process, which is taking place in conditions of systematic suppression of political competition, independent media, civil society, and independent observation.

At the same time, the fundamental issue goes far beyond Moscow’s compliance with electoral standards on its own territory. The Russian Federation is trying to use the electoral process as another tool to legitimize its attempted annexation of the sovereign territories of Ukraine.

In this context, the clear and unequivocal position of ODIHR and the OSCE PA regarding the illegitimacy of Russia's intentions to organize voting in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, stressing that the results of such so-called "elections" will have no validity under international law, is especially important.

The incorporation of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine into the Russian electoral system, the formation of electoral districts within them, the organization of voting, and the inclusion of its results in the overall count grossly violate the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, international humanitarian law, and relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly.

Any voting organized by the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine is illegal and void. Ukraine will recognize neither its results, nor any decisions of the so called "electoral commissions" of the Russia’s occupying administrations, nor the mandates of individuals whom Russia will declare "elected" from the sovereign territories of Ukraine. The inclusion of illegally obtained votes in the nationwide vote count in Russia will not confer legality upon them and will not give rise to any legal consequences.

The forced involvement of Ukrainian citizens in such a voting under conditions of armed occupation, repression, forced passportization, and administrative pressure cannot be considered a free expression of will and under no circumstances can be construed as consent to the occupation or attempted annexation.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine calls on foreign States, international organizations, and parliamentary assemblies to unequivocally reaffirm in advance the non-recognition of any voting and its results in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine; not to send their representatives or so-called "international observers" there; not to recognize the authority of individuals claiming to have received mandates from Ukrainian territories; to prevent the use of international parliamentary platforms for their legitimization; and to refrain from any actions that could run counter to the policy of non-recognition of Russia’s occupation.

All persons knowingly involved in the preparation, organization, conduct, and propaganda support of the illegal voting must be held accountable. We call on Ukraine's partners to apply appropriate restrictive measures, including individual sanctions, to such individuals.

We expect that the principled assessment set out in the joint statement of the OSCE PA and ODIHR will be consistently reflected in all subsequent documents and public positions of the OSCE institutions regarding this electoral process.