Kyiv [Ukraine], September 1 : Despite the ongoing conflict with Ukraine, Russia has started holding regional elections in “occupied areas” of Ukraine, CNN reported on Thursday citing Kyiv officials.
Ukraine has condemned the move and has urged citizens in “occupied areas” not to vote in upcoming elections planned by Russian-appointed officials, adding they should "leave the region" if possible.
"Russians have started holding 'elections' to pseudo-local councils and 'legislative bodies' in the temporarily occupied territories," CNN quoted Ukraine's National Resistance Center (NRC), an official agency, as saying.
The “Occupation authorities” were planning "early voting" in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions through September 8 at people's homes, the NRC added.
The voting will begin in Kherson and Luhansk on September 2, CNN reported.
“We urge Ukrainians not to open their doors to the occupiers and, if possible, to leave the region or their homes for the period of 'early voting’”, NRC stated.
Voting will then take place at polling stations between September 8 and 10.
"The Russians need this long scheme to hide the turnout and the lack of interest of the locals in the 'expression of will,'" the Ukrainian agency further added.
The NRC also alleged that "election commission members" accompanied by Russian soldiers are going around Ukrainians' homes to identify those willing to vote, which happened in referendums last year on the status of the occupied regions in Ukraine universally dismissed as a “sham” by Ukrainian and Western leaders, CNN reported.
Notably, the Russia-Ukraine conflict which began on February 24 last year, has dragged on for over 500 days with thousands of casualties and infrastructural damage.
According to Russian claims, Moscow controls around one-fifth of Ukraine's territory, which includes the Crimea peninsula, which has been under its control since 2014 and parts of the Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
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