Russia is actively preparing for the so-called presidential ‘elections’ in the occupied territories of Ukraine, scheduled for March 17. New units of Russian repressive forces are arriving in the cities, as reported by the National Resistance Center (NRC).
“Specifically, deployments of police units and reinforced Russian Guard detachments have been observed in the temporarily occupied territories. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has been assigned overall control of these units. The primary objective is to suppress any underground activity that could disrupt the upcoming Russian presidential elections,” the text reads.
However, the Russians are anticipating challenges with the turnout of residents in the pseudo-elections, hence increasing participation in the so-called ‘voting’ through forced voting of their military personnel.
“The main goal of the “elections” in the temporarily occupied territories is not to elect Vladimir Putin as president, as elections in Russia are not a tool for changing the government, but rather to have a “high turnout” that should allegedly indicate support for the occupation from the locals. To increase the number of people who voted, the Russians organized “elections” in their occupation units located in the temporarily occupied territories,” the NRC writes.
The occupying forces are set to conclude the voting by March 15, and their ballots will be the basis for falsifying the turnout.
The Russians are also promising pensioners in temporarily occupied territories RUB 5,000 for participating in the pseudo-elections. “The enemy makes house-to-house visits and offers “humanitarian aid,” but the condition for receiving it is to fill out a ballot. Funds are given even without a Russian passport. Such actions are aimed at inflating the turnout, which, according to the Kremlin, should legalize the occupation,” the NRC writes.
Simultaneously, the Ukrainian resistance movement is poised to counter the occupiers. Yellow ribbons and patriotic posters increasingly dominate the streets of temporarily occupied cities in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, as well as Crimea. In Yalta, activists are removing Russian-flagged propaganda from mailboxes distributed by Russians ahead of fake elections and destroying them.
“Residents of Simferopol are gearing up to boycott the occupiers’ elections. Crimea will inevitably be free from occupiers. We await liberation, we await the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” wrote activists from the Zhovta Strichka (“Yellow Ribbon”) movement.
Cover: NRC
