The 2023 elections in Russian-occupied Ukraine took place on 8–10 September 2023, on common election day, one year after the

Russian annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts On 30 September 2022, Russia, amid an ongoing invasion of Ukraine, unilaterally declared its annexation of areas in and around four Ukrainian oblasts— Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia. Most of Luhansk Oblast and part of Donetsk ...

. The results were largely rejected by the

international community The international community is a term used in geopolitics and international relations to refer to a broad group of people and governments of the world. Usage Aside from its use as a general descriptor, the term is typically used to imply the ...

, with

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

and

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

being the only ones to explicitly recognise them. Regardless, Russia used the vote to try legitimise their rule.

Background

Russian control over the four regions is illegal under

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

. Ukrainian human rights activists have claimed that about half of the candidates and also of registered voters were citizens of the Russian Federation who had never lived in Ukraine before 2022.

Conduct

In an effort to increase voter turnout to make the election seem more legitimate, Russian officials went door to door telling residents to go to polls. There, their votes were observed by armed police bussed in from Russia. On September 8, the headquarters of United Russia in occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast was firebombed by pro-Ukrainian partisans, and various polling stations where also attacked by them between September 8 and 9.

Reactions

The

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

denounced the election in the occupied territories as "a flagrant violation of international law."

References

{{Russian invasion of Ukraine, Military Donetsk Oblast in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Kherson Oblast in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Luhansk Oblast in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Zaporizhzhia Oblast in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Russian elections in Ukraine September 2023 in Ukraine September 2023 in Russia 2023 elections in Europe

Background

Conduct

Reactions

See also

References