Ukraine sanctions 44 people involved in Russia's sham parliamentary elections in occupied territories

President Volodymyr Zelensky enacted sanctions against 44 people involved in Russia's illegal parliamentary elections held in occupied parts of Ukraine, according to a presidential decree issued on Sept. 26.

As Russia held its parliamentary elections from Sept. 18 to 20, it also organized, for the first time, the vote in the occupied territories.

Russia used sham elections in Ukrainian territories under occupation to project the image that residents accept Russian rule and are integrated into Russia's political system, according to Ukrainian officials and human rights organizations.

The sanctions target people who acted in Russia's interests and helped facilitate the occupation of parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, as well as Crimea, according to the decree.

Some of those sanctioned had previously been elected to Russian-installed local councils in occupied territories. The list also includes former Ukrainian lawmaker Yurii Onyshchuk, who began cooperating with Russian authorities after Russia occupied Melitopol, a city in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Ukraine considers Russia's sham parliamentary elections in occupied territories illegal and says their results have no legal validity.

The elections were accompanied by "mass falsifications, forced voting, and predetermined turnout figures," Ukraine's presidential office said. Kyiv has accused Russia of using the voting process to consolidate its control over the occupied territories and seek to legitimize its attempted annexation.

"Occupation does not grant any sovereignty," Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Zelensky's commissioner for sanctions policy, said in the statement, citing international humanitarian law and UN resolutions affirming Ukraine's territorial integrity.

The information on the sanctioned individuals will be shared with international partners to coordinate sanctions in their jurisdictions, according to the statement.

Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, said on Sept. 20 the vote was another attempt to impose Russia's political system on Ukrainians and create the appearance of legitimacy for the occupation. He stressed that a ballot cannot give Russia the right to represent Ukrainian citizens or change Ukraine's sovereignty over the territories.

Ukraine has urged the international community not to recognize any mandates resulting from the vote.

The European Union said Russia's organization of the elections in occupied Ukrainian territory violated international law and that it would not recognize either the vote or its results.

EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Sept. 21 that she proposed measures against those facilitating sham elections in occupied Ukraine.

Russian authorities claimed exceptionally high turnout in the occupied territories — more than 81% in the occupied part of Donetsk Oblast, nearly 80% in Luhansk Oblast, more than 79% in the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and more than 74% in the occupied part of Kherson Oblast. By comparison, Russia's Central Election Commission reported nationwide turnout of around 56%.

The figures from the occupied territories cannot be independently verified. There were no independent observers with unrestricted access, while voting also took place through mobile ballot boxes and door-to-door procedures.

The number of "voters" in the Russian-occupied part of Donetsk Oblast — more than 1.5 million people — was double the number of people who actually lived in the region.