Occupied Ukraine forced to vote in Putin’s election

Moscow has launched a wide-ranging campaign telling residents of occupied parts of Ukraine to vote in Russia#39;s presidential election. For the first time, the national vote is taking place over three days (15-17 March), but additional early voting has already begun in four Ukrainian regions: Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk. Voting normally starts early in remote parts of Russia, but the procedure has been extended to the four partially occupied regions of Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is one of four candidates on the ballot, but none of the others poses a realistic challenge.

All of his most outspoken critics have either been forced into exile, jailed, or have died. Voters are not required to go to polling stations, but are instead sent to their homes with ballot boxes. A pro-vote campaign called InformUIK aims to inform residents about the procedure of voting, as well as all the candidates. It is often accompanied by armed men, and sometimes film local residents.

Residents have been sent text messages informing them of the dates of the vote and tried-and-tested Soviet methods are also being deployed to attract them to polling stations. Ukraine has dismissed the vote as an illegitimate sham, and those involved in organising it have been targeted by attacks. Ukrainian passports are being accepted as proof of ID to make voting even easier. Ukrainian governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, Ivan Fedorov, told the BBC: #34;Somebody did it.

Somebody who showed great resistance. Some heroes who do it on temporarily occupied territories. That#39;s why this somebody got killed. The official symbol of the 2024 presidential election is the V-sign associated with Putin’s military operation in Ukraine.

The official slogan adopted by Russia#39;s Central Electoral Commission is #34;Strong together - vote for Russia! Both the V symbol and the slogan appear in posters dotted around occupied parts of Ukraine. Kremlin uses election to paint picture of unanimous support for Russia’s annexation of Ukraine. But these carefully choreographed images come at the expense of thousands of critics silenced, deported, jailed or killed.

Many have left - especially young people - unwilling or unable to live under Russian occupation. Pro-Russian locals visit households with ballot boxes, accompanied by armed military men. If they knock and no one opens, they move on to the next house. They don#39;t break into houses, but they do visit, one resident said.

They added: #34;This is ridiculous. What kind of election is it when there are two locals - one holding a list of voters and the other a ballot box - and a military man with a machine gun?

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