Fake vote for Putin – bomb explodes in front of polling station in Ukraine

According to the local election authority, the explosion occurred in front of a polling station in the Kherson region. “In Skadovsk, an improvised explosive device was placed in a garbage bin in front of the polling station,” the regional election commission, which is close to the Russian occupation, said via the online service Telegram. Consequently, no one was injured in the explosion.

Arrests in Russia
There were also protests in Russia at the start of the elections, with firebombs set off at various polling stations. At least nine people were arrested for ‘vandalism’. It was initially unclear whether this was a coordinated protest against the elections or individual cases.

According to Russian figures, 4.5 million people are being called to vote in the occupied parts of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson. Voting will also take place in Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014. Kiev protested against the votes, which violated international law, and called on the international community not to recognize the outcome. The Supreme Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, also called for increasing sanctions pressure against Russia.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry accused Russia of violating Ukraine’s territorial integrity in violation of international law. The ministry called on people in the occupied territories not to participate in the “pseudo-elections.” “The Russian dictatorship has had nothing to do with democracy for a long time,” the report said in a statement. Instead, Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague on an arrest warrant on suspicion of committing serious war crimes in Ukraine. He has been in power for more than 24 years through manipulation, propaganda and violence, including assassinations of independent politicians.

“Russians deserve real elections”
The Austrian Foreign Ministry criticizes the fact that there are no independent OSCE election observers. The presidential elections in Russia began “amid repression, intimidation and persecution.” “The Russian people deserve a real choice and the security and freedom to exercise it,” said a statement on the online service X (see below). The “sham elections” in the occupied territories were also condemned. “These ‘elections’ are illegal, their results lack any legitimacy!”2

UN Secretary General António Guterres also condemned the inclusion of occupied Ukrainian territories in the Russian presidential elections. Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territories in recent years was contrary to international law and therefore null and void, a spokesperson for the Secretary General said. He referred to UN General Assembly resolutions calling on Russia to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

Military: Ukraine has shelled polling stations
According to the Kremlin, the Russian president cast his vote online on Friday. During a meeting of the Russian Security Council, Putin accused Ukraine of trying to disrupt the presidential elections. To this end, Ukraine has shelled Russian territory and deployed soldiers to cross the country’s borders. According to the Russian military, the Ukrainian army has shelled polling stations in the occupied city of Kakhovka. “These enemy attacks will not go unpunished,” the Kremlin chief threatened. According to Putin, there were four attacks on the Belgorod region and one on the Kursk region by armed Ukrainian units.

Navalnaya calls for protest
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of late Kremlin opponent Alexey Navalny, has called on the Russian people to protest and vote for all candidates except Putin. She also called on opposition supporters to go to the polling stations simultaneously at noon on Sunday to demonstrate their unity and presence. Prosecutors in Moscow responded to the call by announcing that any form of protest was “punishable under applicable law.”