It is the state news agency TASS that films how a masked policeman in camouflage uniform, helmet and with a Kalashnikov on his chest knocks on the door
Foto: Tass / Tass
A video shared on social media shows how 98-year-old resident Evdokia Vihrova of Severodonetsk in the northern Donetsk region receives home visits to vote.
Foto: Tass / Tass
The Russian presidential administration has poured hundreds of billions of rubles into ensuring a smooth victory for Vladimir Putin in this weekend’s Russian presidential election. With a nationwide propaganda campaign and total control over television, social media and news media, they hope to raise the real turnout as high as possible to avoid cheating more than necessary, something Expressen was previously able to reveal in the Kremlin Leaks project.
Of particular importance are the areas that Russia calls its new regions – the occupied parts of Ukraine illegally annexed by Russia. The inhabitants of the Ukrainian regions of Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhya have been largely forced to become Russian citizens by bureaucratic means. And now the residents are also forced to participate in electing Vladimir Putin as Russia’s next president.
From Mariupol, which Russian forces took control of two years ago after brutal fighting that killed a large part of the civilian population, Russian media are now reporting happy residents taking part in the presidential election.
– For us, it’s a party! For the first time, we get to elect the president of Russia. Our vote will decide which country we will live in, an anonymous resident of Mariopul is said to have said according to Komsomolskaja Prava.
Forcing residents to vote
To state-run Ria Novosti, the deputy chairman of the electoral commission in the district claims that they expect a high turnout.
– Residents of Mariupol voted very actively, many gladly took the opportunity to vote on their farm and thanked us. But we still expect a high turnout today, says vice-chair Liliya Krivyak.
In the regions close to the front, early voting has been going on for some time.
In the courtyards of the residential areas, temporary polling stations have been set up, all under the supervision of armed men, soldiers or policemen from Russian forces.
Russian propaganda films that are supposed to show how the population in the occupied territories now freely elect Putin instead become all too clear evidence of just how unfree the election is.
98-year-old invånaren Evdokia Vihrova in Sievjerodonetsk in the Northern Luhansk region får hembesök för att rösta.
Foto: Tass / Tass
A video that has been shared on social media shows how 98-year-old resident Evdokia Vihrova of Sievjerodonetsk in the northern Luhansk region receives home visits to vote.
It is the state news agency TASS that films how a masked policeman in camouflage uniform, helmet and with a Kalashnikov on his chest knocks on the door. In tow, he has, in addition to the cameraman, an election worker with a ballot box made of transparent Plexiglas.
A startled woman opens the door in her dressing gown.
“We have come for you to vote,” says the election worker and then puts a pen in the old woman’s hand.
The policeman stands wide-legged in the background with his hands on the weapon.
“This from the heart” says the woman when she puts the ballot in the ballot box.
According to the AP news agency, there are several reports about how Russian authorities are forcing the residents of occupied territories to vote and how they are threatened with withdrawn healthcare and benefits. About a dozen Ukrainians who refused to vote have been arrested, according to human rights activists.
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