The Russian presidential election, which is expected to re-elect Vladimir Putin, will be held in four Ukrainian territories that the Kremlin claimed to have annexed last year, Moscow announced on Monday.
The Central Elections Commission announced that voting would take place in Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson in March – territories of Ukraine over which Russia still does not have complete military control.
“The decision was adopted unanimously,” commission vice-president Nikolay Bulayev said, according to the state-run news agency TASS.
The poll will take place over three days, from March 15 to 17, which critics of the Kremlin say makes ensuring transparency more difficult.
Putin is unlikely to face substantial challenges in his attempt for a fifth term, with the majority of Russia’s opposition imprisoned or exiled.
Without gathering signatures, five parties have been authorized to put up a candidate for the 2024 election. Everyone backs the Kremlin and its military offensive in Ukraine.
Ukraine had previously encouraged the international community to “firmly condemn Russia’s intention to hold presidential elections in occupied Ukrainian territory.”
Kyiv also called on the West to sanction individuals responsible.
Russia has already held elections in occupied areas of Ukraine, which Kyiv and the West have condemned as invalid.
In September, Moscow held elections for local officials in four Ukrainian areas.
It had organized a “referendum” to acquire the territory a year before.
Kyiv and the West both condemned both votes.
Russia unilaterally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014 and has held elections there since.