Voting under occupation: How Russia's election unfolds in Donetsk and Luhansk
Early voting ahead of “Russia's presidential election” has commenced in parts of Ukraine currently under Russian occupation, the U.S.-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported on March 10.
“Early voting process” kicked off in the occupied Donetsk Oblast on March 10 and is slated to continue until March 14, according to a report from Russia's state-run TASS news agency. It was also mentioned that early voting had already been underway since Feb. 25 in regions proximate to the war zones.
Read also: Occupying forces in Ukraine set up measures to ensure 'election' participation, incl. online — NRC
TASS revealed that stationary polling stations are set to open from March 15 to 17 in the occupied areas of Ukraine. Self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic officials have been actively campaigning door-to-door for the past 20 days, involving around 2,600 election commission members, reported Luhansk regional governor, Artem Lysohor.
Read also: Russia brings ‘observers’ to monitor sham elections in occupied territories of Ukraine
Ukrainian authorities have expressed concerns that Russian occupiers are planning to announce an implausibly high voter turnout of 94 percent in the occupied regions. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) maintains that this is part of an effort by the Kremlin and Russian authorities to manipulate the election results in favor of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. This strategy is seen as an attempt to fabricate legitimacy for Russia's control over these Ukrainian territories in the eyes of the international community.
Russian authorities increased the presence of special forces in the Temporarily Occupied Territories (TOT) of Ukraine in preparation for the organization of so-called "elections" for the Russian president, the National Resistance Center (NRC) reported on Telegram on Mar. 3.
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