Since 2014, the Russian Federation has been systematically holding illegal referendums and elections in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine (TOT) — in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol, as well as parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, violating the norms of international law and the Constitution of Ukraine. In March of this year, Russia is planning to hold another presidential election there.
The ambitions of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, to be re-elected again pose a clear threat to democracy and the world order. His continued presidency sets a precedent for other dictators to violate international law with impunity, pushing the world into an authoritarian future. The presidential election in Russia is not a real political campaign, but an imitation of popular expression.
It is interesting that the President of the Russian Federation has approved changes to the law of presidential elections, establishing restrictions on media coverage. The changes also concern the prohibition of admission to election committee meetings of mass media representatives who work only on the basis of a labor contract. Taking photos and videos at polling stations is also prohibited. Only representatives of accredited mass media can do this.
The current state of affairs in Russia can be compared to the Soviet Union. At that time, there was also a Constitution which supported the democratic values, but the reality was radically different. Today, Moscow shows that everything is fine, “elections” are being held, but in fact everything is not so.
Part of the Russian opposition called Putin’s third term in 2012 a usurpation of power. And then it happened in 2018. But international society was not ready to recognize Putin’s illegitimacy.
Now the situation regarding the legality of Putin’s election may change. The Russian occupation authorities force citizens of Ukraine in the TOT to participate in elections, using blackmail, intimidation, forced passporting and replacement of Ukrainian identification documents with Russian ones. It is quite possible that Russia will use forceful methods to force residents of the occupied territories to participate in the pseudo-elections. This year’s voting in the presidential elections in the occupied Ukrainian territories will be neither free nor fair.
The Kremlin will use the results of the pseudo-elections to demonstrate its own legitimacy in the occupied territories. Moscow will continue to make every effort to integrate the occupied territories with Russia, ignoring the opinion of local residents. Russia is not committed to the principles of international law, but to the so-called Russian constitutional law, which contradicts international law. Therefore, the international community should refuse to recognize the results of the presidential elections of the Russian Federation.
In October 2023, the PACE adopted a resolution that recognizes Putin’s “eternal” power as illegitimate and strongly supports the creation of a special international criminal tribunal. The resolution was adopted unanimously after the debate and the report “Examining the legitimacy and legality of the ad hominem termlimit waiver for the incumbent President of the Russian Federation.” This example of PACE should be followed by the US Congress and the parliaments of other democratic countries.