MFA: Sham elections on stolen land will not help Russia legitimize occupation

Ukraine does not recognize the so-called elections in the temporarily occupied territories, in particular in Crimea, and they will not help Russia legitimize the occupation. This is stated in the official statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On Sunday, September 14, Russia held a so-called "single voting day" during which, contrary to the norms and principles of international law, an imitation of the election process took place in the temporarily occupied Crimea and Sevastopol.

This year, the occupation authorities held "by-elections" of deputies of the city councils of Sevastopol and Simferopol, as well as "elections" of the mayor of Sevastopol.

The Foreign Ministry emphasized that Russia's organization of pseudo-elections in the temporarily occupied territory is illegal, and their results are null and void. None of the persons allegedly "elected" as a result of this farce will have any legal grounds to fulfill their duties.

The Ministry is convinced that Ukraine's allies and partners will continue to not recognize the results of such pseudo-elections, will not contact representatives of the occupation authorities, and will not take any actions that could violate the policy of non-recognition of the Russian occupation of Ukrainian lands.

"Any bodies, their officials and employees in the temporarily occupied territory, as well as all their activities, are considered illegal if they are established, elected or appointed in a manner not provided for by the legislation of Ukraine," the statement reads.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that all persons involved in organizing and conducting "elections" in the occupation will be held accountable in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine and within the framework of international legal processes, as well as subject to sanctions.

"Sham elections on stolen land will not help Russia legitimize the occupation – the stolen will have to be returned," the Foreign Ministry summarized.

• On September 15, it was reported that cyber specialists of the GUR disrupted the "single voting day" in Russia. The servers of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, the remote electronic voting platform, Rostelecom's backbone routers, and the servers of the state portal Gosuslugi were attacked.