Russia’s parliamentary election is, for the first time, being extended to people living in Ukrainian territories Moscow illegally seized following the launch of its full-scale invasion more than four and a half years ago. The move is widely seen as part of the Kremlin’s effort to entrench its claimed control over occupied areas.
Kyiv has strongly condemned the vote as unlawful, while a human rights activist said people in the occupied territories are being pressured into taking part.
Polling throughout Russia began Friday and is scheduled to continue through Sunday, a multi-day format intended to increase participation. In the annexed Ukrainian territories and in some Russian districts near the border, however, voting has been underway since the end of last month. Russian officials pointed to security concerns in explaining the longer voting period.
Russian authorities say more than 3.5 million eligible voters live in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, which Moscow describes as its “new regions.” Russia declared the areas annexed in September 2022, despite not controlling them in their entirety. The annexations have not been recognized by the international community.
At a polling site in the Russian-occupied section of the Donetsk region, voters placed ballots into a box while an armed Russian soldier stood nearby observing them.
Putin highlights voting in occupied regions
In remarks on Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin underscored the significance of the State Duma election in the occupied regions. He said residents would be casting ballots for Russia’s lower house of parliament “for the first time since their reunification with Russia.”
Putin also said Russian troops fighting in the war would be able to vote.
Voting is also being held in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
The first State Duma election held during wartime is aimed at reinforcing the Kremlin’s political grip while projecting domestic backing for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“Your choice and resolve will once again demonstrate that millions of people stand behind our fighters, that we are a united people, bound by shared values, historical memory, and love for the Motherland and that nobody can divide or intimidate us, undermine our statehood and political system,” Putin said.
Ukraine urges other countries not to recognize the vote
Authorities in Kyiv called the voting in those territories illegal and urged foreign governments and international organizations not to recognize the election. They warned Ukrainians that taking part in organizing the vote could carry criminal liability.
A coalition of nine Ukrainian human rights groups called on residents of the Russia-held territories to stay away from the polls.
“We urge residents of the temporarily occupied territories, above all, to protect their lives and health and to look after their own safety,” the coalition said in a statement. “Holding Russian elections in the temporarily occupied territories is an attempt to use the electoral process to legitimize the Russian occupation and the attempted annexation of Ukrainian territories.”
European Commission spokesperson Christian Wigand said the voting in Russian-held regions represented “another blatant violation of international law. The European Union does not, and will never recognize either the holding of these, so-called elections, sham elections, in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine or their results.”
Activists describ
e coercion to vote
Violeta Artemchuk, coordinator of the Donbas SOS human rights group who was among those who signed the statement, said members of local election commissions were going house to house, escorted by Russian troops and security agents, to force people to vote.
Moscow-appointed authorities exert pressure on residents, threatening those who work in the public sector with dismissal if they fail to vote and making pensions and other social payments conditional on participating, Artemchuk said.
“For instance, if a person with a disability or a pensioner relies on social assistance and does not take part in the ‘voting,’ they could be added to a list of individuals deemed ‘disloyal’ to the so-called authorities and subsequently deprived of their benefits or humanitarian assistance,” she said.
Volodymyr Fesenko, a political analyst with the Kyiv-based Penta Center, emphasized that “elections held at gunpoint are a farce.”
“The very fact that voting takes place amid endless shelling and bombing reflects the Kremlin’s attitude toward the people and the electoral process in the occupied territories,” Fesenko told The Associated Press.
“It’s nothing short of a mockery. Any electoral procedures conducted by the Russian occupation authorities have nothing to do with democracy,” he said.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.