​Russia will hold presidential elections scheduled for March in the occupied territories in the east and south of Ukraine, the Central Election Commission in Moscow announced on Monday, voting in which Vladimir Putin is expected to be re-elected for a fifth term. This was reported by the AFP and Reuters agencies, cited by Agerpres.

The members of the election commission “unanimously” adopted the resolution approving this event, one of the heads of the CEC, Mykola Bulayev, told the official TASS agency. Russia has already organized several elections in these territories (Zaporizhia and Kherson in the south, Donetsk and Luhansk in the east), which it announced to annex in September 2022 and which it only partially controls.

Presidential elections will last three days, from March 15 to 17, for the first time in Russia.

The decision to hold them in the occupied Crimea was made earlier, the Ukrainian agency UNIAN claims. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said last week that the organization of elections in these regions is “worthless” and “violates international law.”

Vladimir Putin announced on Friday that he will run for a fifth term in next spring’s presidential election. The Russian head of state, whose 2020 constitutional amendment allows him to run until 2030, could theoretically remain in the Kremlin until 2036, when he would be 84 years old.

It is difficult to doubt his re-election to the post, especially since the opposition was destroyed by a campaign of repression. Almost all of the main opponents, such as the anti-corruption fighter Oleksiy Navalny, were imprisoned or forced to leave.

The Russian military continues to try to achieve another victory for Putin

Meanwhile, Russian forces are trying their best to capture the Ukrainian city of Avdiyivka as part of their campaign to take control of the entire Donbas region (east), the Ukrainian army said on Monday, Reuters reported.

Avdiyivka is a key bastion of Ukraine, a few kilometers northwest of the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Donbas.

“On Sunday, the enemy carried out intensive assault operations with the support of armored vehicles in the directions of Avdiyivka and Maryinka,” Oleksandr Stupun, the spokesman of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, told Ukrainian television. The front line in eastern Ukraine has hardly changed in recent weeks, but the fighting has been intense, Stupun said, adding that 610 artillery shells were fired near Avdiivka in the last day alone.

Russia is trying to surround Avdiivka, a city where only 1,500 people remained out of approximately 32,000 inhabitants before the war. The fighting for Avdiivka is reminiscent of the battle for another eastern city, Bakhmut, which was captured by Russian forces in May after months of fierce urban guerrilla fighting.

Russia stepped up military operations to capture Avdiivka more than two months ago, and Moscow’s forces have been advancing on the flanks to try to cut off Ukrainian supply lines. “The fierce struggle continues. Our fighters are firmly on the defensive,” Stupun said.

Follow the latest events of the 656th day of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HOTNEWS.RO.