Polaris ImagesA resident of the occupied Luhansk region is visited at home to collect her vote
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 11:05
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Chiem Balduk
Foreign Editor
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Chiem Balduk
Foreign Editor
It is not only Russia itself that will be voting this weekend for the presidential elections, the outcome of which has already been determined. Polling stations have also been opened in the occupied territories of Ukraine, which Moscow sees as Russian, where the population can go to ensure Putin’s re-election.
The polls have been spread over several weeks in the occupied Ukrainian territories due to “security concerns”. It is certainly unsafe, because the polling stations and collaborationist administrators are a target of the Ukrainian army and the partisan resistance. Two weeks ago, a party office of Putin’s United Russia party in the Kherson region was attacked; this was later followed by an attack on an election worker in the Zaporizhia region.
Because of that danger, citizens do not have to go to the polling station, the polling station comes to them. These ‘mobile polling stations’ go door to door to collect votes. Russian press images show that there is no free choice. An armed soldier watches how the correct box is colored in. The residents vote for Putin under duress.
So there is absolutely no question of a credible election. The same method was used for the ‘referendum’ on annexation to Russia in 2022.
Below the radar
“The psychological pressure on us is increasing enormously,” said a Ukrainian resident of the occupied city of Melitopol, who remains anonymous for security reasons. “You have no choice whether to cooperate. Those who refuse will be punished.” He has so far managed to avoid casting a vote. “I’m trying to stay under the radar these days and not stand out.”
An election worker already showed up at Olga’s door (full name known to editors). “That was a while ago. We had to show our passports and then he told us where the nearest polling station would be. That was it.”
Olga is definitely not going to the polling station, she says firmly. “I don’t know anyone who plans to do that either.” She is not afraid of consequences. “I didn’t vote in that referendum either, and then it happened no problems. They don’t care who votes, because it won’t make any difference.”
ReutersA vote is cast on the streets of Donetsk.
The 71-year-old Putin does not have to fear for his next six-year term as president of Russia. Nevertheless, Russian authorities are committed to boosting turnout as much as possible, hoping to give the elections some credibility.
Images of citizens voting in the occupied regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia are also used for propaganda purposes in their own country, as ‘proof’ that these so-called new citizens of Russia are happy with the occupation.
Organizing Russian elections on Ukrainian soil is rejected by Western countries and labeled as illegal. The Ukrainian government calls the election an empty shell and calls on the international world not to recognize the election results.
Kyiv also calls on all Ukrainians in the occupied territories not to participate in the “pseudo-elections.” “Anyone who acts voluntarily as a polling station employee will sooner or later be punished for this,” the warning reads. For Ukrainians forced to vote, the appeal is milder. They must put their safety first and not resist.
Voting in Avdiivka
The ‘elections’ also have another purpose in the occupied regions. Through home visits by the mobile polling stations, the Russian occupiers obtain information about the population left behind. It is checked whether someone already has a Russian passport or, for example, is involved in resistance activities.
The Melitopol resident says street checks have been stepped up in the run-up to the elections. “The atmosphere is very bad now,” he says. “You can get money if you rat out your neighbors or friends for pro-Ukrainian statements. That means you don’t trust anyone.”
In any case, the Russian electoral commission is satisfied with the state of affairs. Yesterday she proudly reported that everything was going according to plan and the “right staff” had conducted the elections. Even in the recently captured and destroyed city of Avdiivka there was said to have been a vote.
2024-03-16 10:05:25
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