Kiev: Russia is ready to go to any extent to capture Ukraine. Now Russia has come up with a new plan. Even though Russia has not got some parts of Ukraine, it is trying to force elections there, so that it can declare it as its own city. As AP reports, Ukraine is holding elections in its occupied territories this weekend. Polling centers have also been set up at various places.
According to the report, these include Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions. Russia here began voting for the assembly on Friday, which will end on Sunday. Western countries are strongly condemning this arbitrariness of Russia, but Russia is ignoring it. Political analyst Abbas Galyamov said it was important to continue voting.
Russian authorities aim for 80% of the population to vote. Ivan Fyodorov, the Ukrainian mayor of the Russian-held city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhia region, told the AP that local residents were effectively being forced to vote. “It’s hard to say no when you have an armed man standing in front of you,” he said. Here Russians encourage people to vote in markets, grocery stores and other public places. People who have acquired Russian citizenship and who still hold a Ukrainian passport are also allowed to vote.
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Tags: Russia Ukraine war, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky
First published: September 08, 2023, 14:24 IST