The Ukrainian resistance blew up an office of the United Russia party in the occupied Ukrainian city of Nova Kakhovka, the National Resistance Center said on Feb. 27.
The alleged attack, carried out on the morning of Feb. 27, aimed to disrupt preparations for the Russian presidential election in March that Russia plans to illegitimately hold also in the occupied territories of Ukraine, the center said.
Russia allegedly blamed the incident on drone strikes to deny and cover up the activity of Ukrainian resistance in occupied territories.
"The National Resistance Center calls on citizens of Ukraine not to participate in the Kremlin's propaganda production called 'elections,'" the center said.
"At the same time, the resistance movement notes that any collaborator who helps organize the 'election process' will be held accountable for their actions."
Nova Kakhovka lies on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast. The city has been under Russian occupation since February 2022.
Russia declared annexation of partially occupied Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, and Donetsk oblasts in September 2022, a step denounced by Ukraine and the international community as illegal and void.
Efforts to integrate occupied territories have been accompanied by activities of the ruling United Russia party, which has opened branches in several occupied Ukrainian cities.
The party has come under attack several times since then. Its headquarters was destroyed in the occupied city of Polohy, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, last September during sham "local elections" organized by Moscow. A United Russia representative was killed by a car bomb in Nova Kakhovka a month later.
Katie Marie Davies
(Updated: )
