Ukraine urges CIS observers to skip Russian vote in occupied areas

On August 13, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry cautioned Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) observers against attending voting in Ukrainian regions temporarily controlled by Russia, where the occupier intends to conduct illicit elections as part of its State Duma elections. The statement, published on the ministry's website, highlighted this as yet another blatant breach of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as an affront to international law.

The department also emphasized that any voting conducted by Russian occupation authorities on Ukrainian sovereign territory is unlawful, and the results would be legally invalid. Moscow seeks to leverage the international presence in occupied territories to legitimize its actions, but the presence of foreign observers does not alter the illegality of voting there and cannot be a basis for acknowledging its results, the ministry asserted.

Russia's general election is set for September 18-20. On August 10, Russia's Supreme Court annulled the registration of the Yabloko party's federal candidate list for the Duma elections, leaving Yabloko as the sole antiwar party in the race. On August 7, the Russian news outlet Agentstvo reported a decline in support for the ruling United Russia party to 32.1% in the past week, its lowest level since early May.

On August 2, The Wall Street Journal, based on informed sources, indicated that Russian authorities are likely to announce a fresh phase of compulsory conscription after the elections.