MOSCOW, Russia
The European Union on
Monday slammed elections
in Russian-occupied Ukraine, warning Kremlin-backed officials and vote
organizers that they would face “consequences.”A woman seen voting in occupied Donetsk.
Russia’s Central Election
Commission claimed that the pro-Kremlin ruling United Russia party secured
overwhelming majorities in the legislative votes in Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk,
Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, as well as in annexed Crimea.
“The European Union does not
and will not recognize either the holding of these so-called ‘elections’ or
their results,” the EU delegation to Ukraine said in a statement.
“Russia’s political leadership
and those involved in organizing them will face consequences of these illegal
actions.”
Ukrainian security services
said they had compiled a list of "collaborators" helping to organize
the voting and vowed retribution.
Brussels did not specify what
type of punishment it planned to enact against officials for running the votes
in occupied territories.
Elections in the four
partially occupied Ukrainian regions are seen as the Kremlin’s latest effort to
solidify its control there, nearly 19 months since it launched its
full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The elections in occupied
Ukraine were held in tandem with regional and local elections across Russia
proper over the weekend, which came ahead of next year's presidential election
when President Vladimir Putin is widely expected to run for a fifth term in
office.
Yet the Russian leader's key
opponents have been forced into exile or jailed, while Moscow has criminalized
any dissent over its invasion of Ukraine.
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