Russia's staging of elections in occupied territories of Ukraine is illegal and void, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, urging international partners not to recognise the results.
President Vladimir Putin, who launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago, is set to win a new six-year term in the March 15-17 vote. This would enable him to overtake Josef Stalin to become Russia's longest-serving leader.
Kyiv's foreign ministry said the electoral campaign in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, all partially controlled by Russia, as well as Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, was another demonstration of Moscow's "continued flagrant disregard for international law norms and principles".
It added in a statement: "Forcing millions of Ukrainian citizens who live in temporarily occupied territories or who have been forcibly transferred to Russian Federation territory to participate in the so-called 'elections' is equally illegal."
The ministry called on Ukrainians remaining in occupied territories not to participate in the vote.
