{"id":135257,"date":"2023-12-09T20:12:10","date_gmt":"2023-12-09T20:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/?p=135257"},"modified":"2023-12-09T20:12:10","modified_gmt":"2023-12-09T20:12:10","slug":"ukraine-slams-kremlin-plans-for-russian-election-in-occupied-territory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/world-news\/ukraine-slams-kremlin-plans-for-russian-election-in-occupied-territory\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine slams Kremlin plans for Russian election in occupied territory"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1> Ukraine slams Kremlin&#8217;s plans to hold Russian presidential election in occupied territories next year<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Russian planning votes in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Crimea<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Kyiv has expressed outrage at Russia&#8217;s plans to hold presidential votes across occupied Ukrainian territory in the spring &#8211; in an election that is likely to see Vladimir Putin extend his grip on power until at least 2030.<\/p>\n<p>The Ukrainian\u00a0foreign ministry called the elections, planned for March 17, &#8216;null and void&#8217;, and pledged that any international observers sent to monitor them would &#8216;face criminal responsibility&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Russian authorities plan to arrange voting in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson &#8211; territories Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in September last year but does not fully control.<\/p>\n<p>Votes are also being planned in the Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. Combined, the areas make up almost a fifth of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Putin, who has been in power since 1999,\u00a0moved to prolong his repressive and unyielding grip on Russia for at least another six years, announcing his candidacy in the election this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/09\/19\/78774149-12845443-image-a-1_1702149388382.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Vladimir Putin, who has been in power since 1999, announced his candidacy in the election this week (file image)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/09\/19\/78751133-12845443-President_of_Ukraine_Volodymyr_Zelensky_listens_on_during_a_meet-a-18_1702149476869.jpg\" height=\"951\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky listens on during a meeting with Patriarch Bartholomew I, during a visit to the Patriarchal Church of St. George<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/09\/19\/78774151-12845443-image-a-16_1702149467261.jpg\" height=\"426\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>A damaged residential building in the occupied Donetsk region on December 9, 2023<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/09\/19\/78774153-12845443-image-a-17_1702149469155.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Ukrainian soldiers exit an Marder Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) on December 7 in Donetsk<\/p>\n<p>Signaling that he intended to lay the groundwork for votes in the territories, Putin on Tuesday signed legislation allowing votes to be held under conditions of martial law &#8211; which is in effect in the regions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Despite labelling the regions its &#8216;new territories&#8217;, Russia does not fully control any of the four regions and Ukraine is continuing to battle its forces across the south and east.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With many of Putin&#8217;s key political opponents, most notably opposition leader Alexei Navalny, jailed and silenced, the despot is all but certain to win.<\/p>\n<p>The only potential challengers &#8211; who are not imprisoned &#8211; are 79-year-old Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, and the leader of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, Leonid Slutsky, 55.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Neither of the men has announced a decision on whether they will run.<\/p>\n<p>The announcement of the presidential election follows local elections for Russian-installed legislatures in occupied parts of Ukraine in September.<\/p>\n<p>The votes were denounced as a sham by Kyiv and the West.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/09\/19\/78735741-12845443-Putin_then_announced_he_will_run_for_president_yet_again_having_-a-19_1702150106157.jpg\" height=\"356\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Putin announced he will run for president yet again, having spent some 24 years in power either as president or prime minister<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/09\/19\/78735739-12845443-Addressing_Putin_at_today_s_awards_ceremony_at_the_Kremlin_Lt_Co-a-20_1702150114584.jpg\" height=\"360\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Addressing Putin at an awards ceremony at the Kremlin, Lt. Col. Artyom Zhoga praised the president for annexing the Donbas region of Ukraine and implored him to seek re-election<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/04\/09\/78546621-12822453-image-a-16_1701681340894.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky (centre) and Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi (right) visit a Ukrainian army command post in Kupiansk, Kharkiv<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We call on the international community to resolutely condemn Russia&#8217;s intention to hold presidential elections in the occupied Ukrainian territories, and to impose sanctions on those involved in their organisation and conduct,&#8217; Ukraine&#8217;s foreign ministry said of the latest announcement.<\/p>\n<p>It comes as Ukraine&#8217;s leadership, including President Volodymyr Zelensky has admitted to failings in its counter-offensive which was launched in spring.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, December 1, Zelensky said the plan had not achieved &#8216;the desired results&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>As the war grinds on and frustrations mount among Ukrainian soldiers and their families at home, many are placing the blame for perceived failings on the battleground at his door.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/08\/20\/78751233-12843365-image-a-13_1702067247482.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko speaks to journalists during the opening ceremony of the Podilsko-Voskresenskyi Bridge on December 1<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/04\/09\/78546707-12822453-image-a-17_1701681468013.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Rescuers work at a site of a residential building heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike in the town of Novohrodivka, Donetsk, on November 30<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, in an interview with Swiss media, the mayor of Kyiv, ex-heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, pointed to the President&#8217;s declining popularity.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;People wonder why we weren&#8217;t better prepared for this war, why Zelensky denied until the end that it would come to this. People see who&#8217;s effective and who&#8217;s not&#8230; Zelensky is paying for mistakes he has made.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The 52-year-old, who has been mayor of Kyiv since 2014 and is a political opponent of the president, added:\u00a0&#8216;People wonder why we weren&#8217;t better prepared for this war. Why Zelensky denied until the end that it would come to this.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/04\/09\/78546605-12822453-image-a-33_1701682966094.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Ukrainian soldiers fire on targets in the direction of Avdiivka, Donetsk, as the Russo-Ukrainian war continues on December 1<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;The president has an important function today and we must support him until the end of the war.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;But at the end of this war, every politician will pay for his successes or failures.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Brushing off suggestions he would consider running for the role of premier, Klitschko added: &#8216;It would be stupid to think about it today. Today the only question is whether Ukraine continues to exist at all.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Like Russia, Ukraine&#8217;s presidential elections are also due to be held in March, but its constitution prohibits them from being held under martial law, which is currently in place.<\/p>\n<p>Zelensky said last week that now was &#8216;not the time for elections,&#8217; and added that speculation on the subject was &#8216;irresponsible.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-12845443\/Ukraine-Kremlin-plans-Russian-presidential-election-occupied-territories.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ukraine slams Kremlin&#8217;s plans to hold Russian presidential election in occupied territories next year Russian planning votes in Donetsk, Luhansk,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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