Stefan Schaller, the managing director of an energy supplier in the northern state of Hess, was fired after it was found that he participated in fake referendums in Donbas and tried to legitimize them with his statements, Der Tagesspiegel reports.

The decision to fire him was made unanimously by Energie Waldeck-Frankenberg’s supervisory bodies at a hastily called extraordinary meeting on Monday.

The CEO’s behavior was clearly “against the outlook, moral values ​​and philosophy of the company,” explained district administrator Juergen van der Horst, who chairs the energy supplier’s supervisory board.

Schaller appeared at fake referendums in Donbas last weekend as an alleged “election observer”.

In the Russian state media, the statements of the “observer from Germany” were used to legitimize the mock referendum.

“The organization was as good as possible for the limited time we had,” Schaller said in Zaporozhye.

In addition, a video published by the state news agency TASS shows the German manager in front of the Russian flag.

“Western media reported that the vote was organized under pressure,” Schaller said. “But when I’m here, I see with my own eyes that people vote voluntarily.”

Schaller is quoted in an article in TASS. “I already have experience as an international observer,” he emphasized, noting that he also took part in last year’s elections to the Russian Duma.