Russian soldiers who tortured Ukrainians now among candidates in sham elections - Ombudsman

He announced this on Telegram, Ukrinform reports.

As Lubinets noted, Russia has already started their hoax "elections" to its "local authorities" in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, where citizens are practically forced to vote at gunpoint.

"Terrorists call these attempts "early voting" for the sake of "concern for the safety of citizens". However, in reality, the "concern" and "safety" on the part of aggressors is about coercion that pursues criminal goals. After all, in order to force the citizens of Ukraine to vote, the occupiers even seize their IDs," the ombudsman emphasized.

Also, the rights commissioner cited media reports, according to which, among the candidates for pseudo-representative bodies are Russian soldiers who took part in the invasion of Ukraine, torturing and murdering people.

Lubinets stated that the sham "elections" set up by the invaders are yet another attempt at integrating Ukrainian territories into Russia.

"In fact, any similar actions aimed at organizing and holding "elections" on the territory of sovereign and independent Ukraine are illegitimate. Their results cannot have any legal force, and therefore will not be recognized by the international community," he emphasized.

According to the ombudsman, the illegal formation of any Russian "authorities" in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, in particular through holding fake "elections", contradicts the generally recognized norms of international law and the Constitution of Ukraine, and endangers the life and health of the local population because the Russian Federation systematically terrorizes civilians there, employing threats, intimidation, torture, and abductions.

The commissioner appealed to the international community to strongly condemn the illegal attempts of the invading pseudo-government to hold fake "elections" in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and to join in documenting the facts of Russia's crimes.

He also urged the international community not to recognize the results of the sham vote and to express firm support for the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine, to facilitate and demand from Russia access for representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations to civilian hostages in the captured territories, which is provided for in Clause 4 of the Ukrainian Peace Formula, and directly join in supporting the latter.

The ombudsman called on the residents of the temporarily occupied territories to refrain from participating in any attempts at encroaching on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine.

"I strongly condemn the actions of the occupation authorities on holding sham elections due to the inhumanity and illegitimacy of the consequences of such actions," he added.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, according to the first deputy head of the regional council, Yuriy Sobolevskyi, the turnout at the Russian pseudo-elections in Kherson region is below minimal so the invaders are putting pressure on the population to participate through door-to-door campaigning and spam texts.

In the temporarily occupied village of Ulyanivka, Kherson region, the Russians are forcing the population to "vote" at gunpoint.