Strengthening its grip, Russia holds elections in the occupied territories. Photo/Illustration
MOSCOW – The authority Russia holding local elections this weekend in the region Ukraine occupied in an effort to tighten Moscow’s grip over the region.
Voting for Russia-created legislative bodies in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions began and ended on Sunday.
The vote is scheduled for the same weekend as other local elections in Russia. In the occupied territories, early voting began last week as election officials went door to door or set up makeshift polling stations in public places to attract passersby.
The party competing in this election is the United Russia Party, a party loyal to Putin that dominates Russian politics, although other parties, such as the Communist Party and the nationalist Liberal Democrat party, also took part in the election.
For some residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, much of which has been controlled by Russian-backed separatists since 2014, the vote was nothing unusual.
“Over the last nine years, we have been trying to get closer to Russia, and Russian politicians are very familiar to us,” said Sergei, a resident of the occupied city of Luhansk, as quoted by The Associated PressFriday (8/9/2023).
He asked that his last name be withheld for security reasons.
“We speak Russian and have long felt part of Russia, and this election only confirms that,” he stressed.
Some voters in Donetsk shared Sergei’s sentiments, expressing love for Russia and saying they wanted to be part of the country.
2023-09-08 12:12:06
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