The Russian Presidential Election in Crimea, Occurring on the Anniversary of the Annexation, is not a Coincidence

Photo from Ukrainian Pravda

The Presidential Election in Russia has started. 8 candidates are running for the presidency.  Yesterday evening, Germany, Canada, Estonia and Latvia stated that they will not recognize the voting results for the Russian president in annexed Crimea. Earlier, the Prosecutor’s Office of Crimea opened a criminal investigation into the organization of the illegal elections on the territory of the occupied peninsula. According to the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, more than a thousand polling stations have been set up in Crimea. Ukraine’s Security Services announced that any Ukrainian citizens that take part in the voting process could face criminal liabilty.

“On the eve of the Russian presidential elections, a forcible passportization of Ukrainian citizens is taking place in the annexed Crimea in order to force them to vote in illegitimate elections. It is impossible to elect the Russian president in the Ukrainian land,” said the First Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada Iryna Gerashchenko.