Ukraine's Foreign Ministry protested Russia's decision to involve residents of the temporarily occupied Donbas, Ukrainian citizens who forcefully obtained occupiers' passports, into Russian State Duma elections through electronic voting.
This was said in a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine regarding the decision of Russia’s Central Election Commission to illegally involve the population of the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the parliamentary elections.
"Such actions of the Russian side along with the illegal organization of the elections to the State Duma in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol constitute a flagrant violation of norms and principles of international law, the Constitution of Ukraine and Ukrainian legislation in force," reads the statement published on Friday.
The ministry emphasizes that the organization of the electoral process in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine and engagement in it of the local population, on which Russian citizenship has been forcibly imposed, call into doubt the legitimacy of the election results.
Despite all attempts of Ukraine to stabilize the situation in the conflict zone, the Russian Federation continues to ignore efforts within the Normandy Four format and the Trilateral Contact Group to find an efficient way to settle the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict in line with norms and principles of international law and with full respect of Ukraine's sovereignty, the MFA says.
"Recent actions of the Russian Federation are particularly cynical taking into account the aggravation of the security situation in the conflict zone, caused by regular ceasefire violations by the Russian occupation forces, as well as further deterioration of the humanitarian and socio-economic situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine," it added.
The ministry called on the international community to condemn this step of the Russian Federation, not to recognize the election results in the temporarily occupied territories and to strengthen the politico-diplomatic pressure on the Russian Federation to make it cease internationally wrongful acts against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
"Ukraine demands from the Russian Federation to revoke all unlawful decisions taken with regard to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and to stop taking steps aimed at further integration of the population of the temporarily occupied territories into political, social and legal space of the Russian Federation," the statement concluded.
