According to Head of State Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is demanding that Ukrainians in the temporarily occupied territories and in the Russian Federation participate in the Ukrainian elections or referendum.
Points of attention
- The motive behind Putin's demand is to discredit the Ukrainian government by creating a narrative of illegitimacy based on the participation of individuals in Russian-controlled territories.
- Zelenskyy emphasizes that the Russian Federation itself is considered illegitimate, further underscoring Putin's efforts to undermine the credibility of Ukraine's governance.
Putin wants to influence the course of the Ukrainian elections and referendum
Volodymyr Zelenskyy once again drew attention to the fact that the presence of observers is extremely important.
However, as it turned out, Putin has already ordered everything to be done to ensure that Ukrainians who are in Russian territory, as well as those Ukrainians who are in the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia, have the opportunity to vote.
Why are they doing this? The task remains the same — to raise the issue that a large number of people live there and they have the right to vote in order to then say that Russia does not recognize these elections. As you can see, Russia does not care how to convey the message about the illegitimacy of the Ukrainian government. I always say this.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
President of Ukraine
Against this background, the head of state drew attention to the fact that the aggressor country, the Russian Federation, is itself illegitimate and that is why it wants to send messages regarding the "illegitimateness" of the Ukrainian authorities.
