Head of the CEC promised to ensure voting rights for those who come to vote from the occupation

Ukraine excludes voting in the presidential election in the temporarily occupied territories, but will ensure voting rights for those who can get to the territory controlled by Kyiv. This was stated in an interview with Reuters said the head of the Central Election Commission Oleg Didenko.

According to him, Ukraine will face great difficulties in organizing its first elections since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, as its infrastructure has been destroyed and millions of people have been displaced by the fighting.

A ceasefire and a safe environment for voters are essential for any election, Didenko said. In addition, Ukraine faces numerous problems: millions of its citizens are abroad or on the front lines, infrastructure is destroyed, and the electoral register does not reflect migration changes.

"The issues of electoral law in peacetime in Ukraine are very complex: they were not resolved quickly and easily. That is why these issues are even more complicated now, as there are many more problems," the CEC head added.

Voting in the occupied territories is excluded, but Ukraine will ensure voting rights for those who get to the territory controlled by Kyiv, Didenko said.

According to the UN Refugee Agency in January, there are about 5.8 million Ukrainian refugees abroad, most of them in Europe. There is currently no final estimate of the number of voters abroad, Didenko said.

Before the war, Ukraine had 102 polling stations in embassies and consulates. This is not enough to ensure that refugees can vote, the official said.

He believes that opening polling stations outside of diplomatic premises is the most realistic solution, as online and postal voting are at risk of external interference and attempts to discredit the process.

The head of the CEC also reported that nearly 2,000 out of more than 30,000 polling stations were destroyed or damaged, mostly in the east of the country.

• December 9, 2025 Trump, amid negotiations on a peace plan, said that it was time to hold elections in Ukraine, as they "have not been held for a very long time."
• Reacting to this, Zelenskyy said that "Always ready for elections"and later called on the United States ensure appropriate security conditions for voting.
• On December 23, for the first time since the beginning of the Great War started State Register of Voters.