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Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - MOSCOW — Russia’s parliamentary election is being held for the first time in four Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow since 2022, drawing condemnation from Ukraine and the European Union, which said they would not recognize the voting there.
Voting across Russia began Friday and runs through Sunday, while balloting started earlier in Russian-held parts of Ukraine and some Russian border areas, with officials citing security concerns for the extended voting period.
Russian authorities say more than 3.5 million voters are registered in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, four regions Moscow claimed to annex in September 2022 despite not fully controlling them. The annexations have not been internationally recognized. Voting is also taking place in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Russian President Vladimir Putin highlighted the participation of the four regions ahead of the election, saying residents would vote for the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, for the first time since what Moscow describes as their “reunification” with Russia. Russian troops involved in the war are also eligible to vote.
Ukraine denounced the voting in Russian-held territory as illegal and urged foreign governments and international organizations not to recognize either the process or its results.
The European Union also rejected the vote in the occupied Ukrainian territories, with European Commission spokesperson Christian Wigand describing it as a violation of international law and saying the bloc would not recognize the elections there or their results.
Ukrainian human rights groups urged residents of Russian-held territories to avoid participating. Violeta Artemchuk of the Donbas SOS group alleged that election officials accompanied by Russian troops and security personnel were visiting homes and pressuring residents to vote.
She also alleged that public-sector workers faced threats of dismissal and that some residents dependent on pensions or social assistance could face consequences for refusing to participate.
At a polling station in the Russian-held part of Donetsk, an armed Russian soldier was present as voters cast their ballots, according to The Associated Press.
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