Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv denounces Russia’s inclusion of annexed regions in parliamentary elections

Ukraine has denounced Moscow for having Russia’s parliamentary elections for the first time include residents of regions it illegally annexed from Ukraine during the war. Kyiv officials called the action illegal and a human rights activist described residents there as being coerced to participate in the poll, which is part of Kremlin efforts to cement its gains in Ukraine. The vote across Russia started on Friday and lasts until Sunday but balloting has in fact been under way in the annexed parts of Ukraine and some areas on the Russian side of the border since the end of last month, with Russian officials citing security reasons for the extended period. Russian authorities say the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia territories – annexed by Russia in September 2022 in a move not recognised internationally – have more than 3.5 million voters.

Authorities in Kyiv called the voting in those territories illegal and urged foreign governments and international organisations not to recognise the election. They warned Ukrainians that taking part in organising the vote for the State Duma – Russia’s lower house of parliament – could carry criminal liability. Vladimir Putin has emphasised the importance of balloting there in a poll intended to show public support for the war and widely expected to see the ruling pro-Putin United Russia party retain its dominance.

The European Commission said the voting in Russian-held regions represented “another blatant violation of international law”. “The European Union does not and will never recognise either the holding of these so-called elections, sham elections, in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine or their results,” spokesperson Christian Wigand said.

Ukrainian human rights groups called on residents of the Russia-held territories to stay away from the polls and “above all, to protect their lives and health and to look after their own safety”. “Holding Russian elections in the temporarily occupied territories is an attempt to use the electoral process to legitimise the Russian occupation and the attempted annexation of Ukrainian territories,” the coalition of nine groups said in a statement. Violeta Artemchuk, coordinator of the Donbas SOS human rights group that was among those who signed the statement, said members of local election commissions were going house to house – escorted by Russian troops and security agents – to force people to vote.

Russian authorities reported attacks ⁠on voting systems and communication lines across the country on Saturday amid the poll. ​The attacks were ‌continuing, Central Election Commission chair Ella Pamfilova was cited as saying by state media, but all were being successfully repelled. Putin has accused Ukraine of trying to interfere with the vote, without providing evidence, while Kyiv has called the election farcical.

The US has approved a potential $2.68bn sale of air defence equipment to Ukraine, after Kyiv made repeated pleas for support to fend off Russian attacks. The state department said in a congressional notification that it made “a determination approving a possible foreign military sale to the government of Ukraine” for buying air defence development upgrades and related equipment and services. The proposed sale is subject to congressional review.

Luxembourg’s authorities were investigating drone sightings that forced the temporary suspension of operations at the nation’s main airport overnight, the prime minister said on Saturday. Luc Frieden said Luxembourg was cooperating with Nato allies over the incident, which came amid heightened concerns in Europe over hybrid attacks from Russia. He said the presence of “potentially bigger drones” in the country’s airspace had been observed “over the past few days” but it was too early to say where they had come from.

Ukraine and Russian have positions on the Black Sea that are “difficult to reconcile” to end the attacks there, Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan has said. Exasperated by the strikes, Turkey sent a proposal to Russia and Ukraine to end attacks on civilian ships, a Turkish diplomat told Agence France-Presse on Thursday. “We received responses from both sides,” Fidan told television’s NTV on Saturday. “We are trying to reach a conclusion. Frankly, both sides have demands and positions that are difficult to reconcile. Our first priority is the extraction of grain from the Black Sea. Countries around the world need it.”