Russia conducts local election in annexed Ukraine

Russia holds local elections in invaded parts of Ukraine amid conflict and ongoing war. Russian-controlled authorities in Russia-occupied Ukraine started holding regional elections on Friday.

Russia does not fully control any of the four regions where the election is going on, these regions are Donestk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. Russia claimed these areas of Ukraine during its annexation last year.

Last October, three-quarters of countries at the United Nations General Assembly showed their disagreement on annexation and condemned Russia by calling it “attempted illegal annexation.”

On this Ukrainian officials commented that the elections are illegal reflects why it’s impossible to hold any peace talks with Russia until Moscow withdraws its troops from Ukrainian territory.

As per Reuters, electoral officials set up temporary polling booths on Thursday in Mariupol, located in the south of Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine.