Russia holds elections in occupied Ukrainian regions in an effort to tighten its grip there

TALLINN, Estonia — Russian authorities are holding local elections this weekend in occupied parts of Ukraine in an effort to tighten their grip on territories Moscow illegally annexed a year ago and still does not fully control. U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca said the elections “have no legal grounds.” U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood called them ”nothing more than a propaganda stunt.” British Ambassador Barbara Woodward reiterated that “you can’t hold elections in someone else’s country,” and Ukraine’s U.N. ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, described the vote as “an outright election farce.” Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, defended Moscow’s annexation of the four regions a year ago and insisted that people “are actively and consciously voting for their future together with Russia.” For Russia — which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine 18 months ago — it is important to go on with the voting to maintain the illusion of normalcy, despite the fact that the Kremlin does not have full control over the annexed regions, political analyst Abbas Gallyamov said. “For the last nine years, we’ve been striving to get closer with Russia, and Russian politicians are well-known to us,” Sergei, a 47-year-old resident of the occupied city of Luhansk, told The Associated Press, asking that his last name be withheld for security reasons. But “locals understand that these elections don’t influence anything” and “are held for Russian propaganda purposes,” Kostantin said, comparing this year’s vote to the referendums Moscow staged last year in the four partially occupied regions. The Russian-appointed governor of the annexed region, Yevgeny Balitsky, noted in a recent statement that 13 front-line cities and villages in the region come under regular shelling, but he expressed hope that despite the difficulties, the United Russia party “will get the result it deserves.” Ivan Fedorov, Ukrainian mayor of Melitopol, a Russian-held city in the Zaporizhzhia region, told The Associated Press that local residents are effectively being forced to vote.