The Chairman of the Legislative Committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Pavlo Krasheninnikov, announced the introduction of a number of amendments to the Russian electoral legislation to solve the problem that arose as a result of the annexation of the occupied Ukrainian territories, Interfax reports.

“Changes are needed to harmonize various legislative acts during elections in the regions where martial law has been imposed – DPR (without Donetsk), LPR (Luhansk), Kherson and Zaporizhia regions,” a Russian official told reporters on Wednesday.

He explained that according to Article 7 of the law on the introduction of martial law on the territory of Russia, referendums and elections cannot be held in the regions where it is in effect, regardless of whether they are elections for local or central authorities.

But at the same time, the laws on the “admission of new entities into the Russian Federation”, as Moscow calls the illegally annexed Ukrainian territories last year, provide for the holding of elections in these regions in the fall of 2023.

“In order to eliminate this contradiction and give citizens the opportunity to express their political will, such amendments must be adopted,” Krasheninnikov urged.

Russia also claims Ukrainian territories that it does not control

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared martial law in the occupied Ukrainian territories on October 19 last year, shortly after the Moscow-appointed authorities in Kherson began evacuating civilians to the left bank of the Dnieper.

Putin presented the introduction of martial law in these regions as a “technical technique”, saying that it already exists de facto in the occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson Oblast and Zaporizhzhia.

The move came less than a month after Putin announced the annexation of the territories in Moscow on September 30.

“The people of Zaporozhye and Kherson, the people of Donetsk and Luhansk heard their voice for the creation of a historical community, I thank them,” he said then, referring to the pseudo-referendums organized by the occupation authorities in these territories.

Moscow later clarified that it claims the entire territory of these regions, not just the territory controlled by its armed forces, with the Kremlin subsequently repeatedly saying that Ukraine must accept the loss of these territories as a basis for any peace talks. .

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