Russia to utilise electoral fraud, voter intimidation during ‘elections’ in occupied areas – UK intel

The relevant statement was made by the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom on the social media platform X, referring to the latest Defence Intelligence update, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

On December 11, 2023, Russia’s central election commission announced that voting in the March 2024 presidential election would extend to the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine. This flows their inclusion in the September 2023 Russian regional elections.

As with the regional elections, it is almost certain that presidential election voting in the Russian-contrled regions will be neither free nor fair, the UK analysts noted.

“The Russian authorities almost certainly see achieving the ‘correct’ results in these regions as a priority because they want to give the perception of legitimacy to Russia’s invasion. The Russian administration will almost certainly utilise methods including substantive electoral fraud and voter intimidation to ensure Russian President Vladimir Putin wins in the regions by a substantial margin,” the UK intelligence concluded.

A reminder that the so-called ‘presidential elections’ will be held in Russia between March 15 and March 17, 2024.