The ongoing campaign in the Russian Federation to imitate presidential elections, which the Russian authorities are conducting in the temporarily occupied parts of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, as well as in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, demonstrates the Russian Federation's continued flagrant disregard for international law norms and principles.
Despite the repeated condemnation by the international community of the Russian Federation's holding of legally null and void events in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine under the guise of "pseudo-referendums" and "elections", the Russian leadership deliberately ignores calls for an end to such actions and, contrary to numerous UN General Assembly resolutions and decisions of a number of other authoritative international organizations in support of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, continues to attempt to annex the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation as a result of armed aggression by extending Russian legislation to them.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine emphasizes that holding "elections" of the President of the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine - the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of Ukraine - is illegal and will not have any legal consequences.
Forcing millions of Ukrainian citizens who live in temporarily occupied territories or who have been forcibly transferred to Russian Federation territory to participate in the so-called "elections" is equally illegal. This, combined with the absence of any signs of compliance with generally recognized democratic principles and election standards in the Russian Federation, as well as the elimination of opponents of the Russian authorities, calls into question the objectivity and legitimacy of any results of these "pseudo-elections."
We urge Ukrainian citizens who live in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine or are forced to stay in the territory of the Russian Federation not to participate in the "pseudo-elections" of the Russian President. On election days, we urge them to avoid crowded places near "polling stations" and the military infrastructure of the Russian occupation forces for their own safety, given the Russian authorities' proclivity for provocations.
Ukraine calls on foreign states and international organizations not to send international observers to participate in yet another farce that the Kremlin is passing off as a presidential election, organized by it, in particular, on the sovereign territory of Ukraine, to refrain from recognizing the results of these "elections," and warns that all violators of Ukrainian legislation will be brought to justice.
Russia's dictatorship has long had nothing to do with democracy, including open and competitive elections. Vladimir Putin, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on suspicion of committing serious war crimes, has been in power for 24 years, not through the free expression of the people's will, but through manipulation of the Russian Federation's Constitution, total propaganda, the destruction of all manifestations of political competition and political violence, including the assassination of significant independent political figures.
The continued preservation of Putin's aggressive and revanchist regime poses an unprecedented challenge to Europe, Central Asia, and other parts of the world that may be affected if Russian terror and chaos spread further. Ignoring this will only heighten the threat to international peace and security.
We urge the international media and public figures not to assist the Kremlin in creating the illusion of an electoral process and to refrain from referring to this farce as "elections" in the language of democratic states.
While Vladimir Putin expands his personal power, we urge the democratic world to reaffirm its respect for human life, the rule of law, and democratic values by maximizing its support for our country and the Ukrainian people in the fight against Russian terror, as well as its support for the UN Charter's purposes and principles through continued unwavering non-recognition of Russia's occupation of Ukraine.