Ukraine appeals to citizens under Russian occupation to ignore Putin’s ‘pseudo elections’
Ukraine’s government has told citizens living in Russian-occupied territories to turn their backs on what they call Moscow’s pseudo-elections, which culminate on Sunday and are widely assumed to see Vladimir Putin returned as president for six more years.
For Kyiv and its international allies, the voting exercise is seen among other things as a further attempt by Russia to give the appearance of legitimacy to its control over the Ukrainian territory it holds.
“Ukrainian citizens should avoid participating in this farce in every way possible,” government minister Iryna Vereshchuk said - which meant no one should be helping to organize the polling, campaigning, voting, or acting as an observer of the elections, the government said in a statement.