Russians are planning to use the "elections" of the Russian president in the occupied territories of Ukraine to create the impression of legitimacy of the Russian invasion, British intelligence reports, UNN writes.
On December 11, Russia's Central Election Commission announced that voting in the March 2024 presidential election would be extended to the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine. This came after they were included in the regional elections in Russia in September 2023,
Details
В intelligence notes that, as in the case of regional elections, it is almost voting in the presidential election in the Russian-controlled regions will be neither free nor fair.
Russian authorities almost certainly see achieving the "right" results in these regions as a priority, as they want to create an impression of legitimacy of the Russian invasion.
The Russian administration will almost certainly use methods, including significant election fraud and voter intimidation, to ensure that Russian President Vladimir Putin wins the regions by a significant margin,
Recall
The Russian Central Election Commission has officially decided to hold voting in the presidential election in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The so-called "elections" in the TOT will be held from March 15 to 17, 2024.