Ukraine says Russian elections in occupied areas are illegal

Aug 13 (Reuters) - Ukraine's Foreign ‌Ministry said ​on ​Thursday that the results of Russian parliament elections next month in occupied areas of Ukraine would be ‌invalid because the polls are illegal.

Russia launched its full-scale ⁠invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and annexed four regions of ‌the country about seven months ‌later, although it has not established full control over all of them. The regions were formally annexed after authorities ​staged referendums denounced by Western countries.

The Foreign Ministry statement coincided with the start of a mission of observers from ⁠ex-Soviet states to watch the election process and give an assessment on whether the ​procedures met accepted standards of being free and fair.

"Any vote organised by Russia on the sovereign ​territory of Ukraine is illegal and ‌the results of such a vote are null and void and have no legal consequences," the ⁠ministry statement said.

It said the presence of international observers did not alter that the vote was illegal and suggested that Russia was "trying ⁠to use an international presence in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to ​legitimise the outcome".

The United Russia Party backed by President Vladimir Putin and other broadly pro-Kremlin parties are almost certain to retain their dominance ‌of parliament after September’s vote.

The leader of Russia's only registered party opposing the war, Yabloko, said ‌on Thursday he would stay in the country and keep ⁠pushing for change, despite ‌pressure from the authorities ​that led to the party's exclusion from the election this week.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski; Editing by Cynthia ‌Osterman)

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