Canadian PM denounces pseudo-elections in Russian-held territories

He said this during the G20 summit in India.

"This week, Vladimir Putin attempted to hold so-called elections in occupied Ukrainian territories – a cynical attempt to legitimize military conquest under the guise of democracy. But Ukrainians are not fooled, and neither are we. Canada does not, and will not ever, recognize the results of these sham elections or Russia’s attempted illegal annexation of Ukraine," Trudeau said.

According to him, the fake choice offered to the residents of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, as well as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, "is an attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence. These sham elections are serious violations of international law, including the United Nations Charter."

"We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine and its attempted annexation of Ukraine’s territory. Canada will remain united with our G7 partners to ensure that Vladimir Putin and the Russian regime’s collaborators face consequences for their actions," the Canadian Prime Minister added.

Trudeau addressed the Ukrainians who continue to challenge the authoritarianism of the Russian regime and said that Canada will continue to support them for as long as it takes.

"We see through the lies. Putin will not redraw the map as he pleases, and Ukraine’s territory shall remain Ukraine’s," the prime minister stated.

Information available regarding “election” in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories

On 30 September 2022, Russian President Putin, based on the results of the so-called referendum in the TOT, signed "agreements" on the "accession" of the self-proclaimed LPR and DPR, as well as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions to Russia.

On 2 October 2022, he submitted a bill to the State Duma on the "accession to the Russian Federation" of four regions of Ukraine.

On 5 October last year, Putin signed the "laws" on the so-called accession of four regions of Ukraine to Russia. He also appointed Denis Pushilin as "acting head of the DPR" and Leonid Pasichnyk as "acting head of the LPR". Volodymyr Saldo became the "governor" of Kherson region, and Yevhen Balytskyi was appointed the "governor" of Zaporizhzhia.

The "elections" in the TOT were scheduled for 10 September 2023, but preparations for them began much earlier.

On 4 September, the National Resistance Centre stated that Russian enemy in the temporarily occupied territories could not find a sufficient number of "public observers" among the locals for the so-called elections, so they invited them from Russia.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, said that among the candidates for representative pseudo-bodies in the temporarily occupied territories are Russian military personnel who took part in the invasion of Ukraine, where they killed and tortured people.

British intelligence has predicted the results of the "elections" in the TOT of Ukraine: the United Russia party is likely to win the most votes.  

On 7 September, Yuriy Sobolevsky, first deputy head of the Kherson regional council, said that the occupation authorities had already predicted a 15% turnout of the local population for the 'elections'.

On 8 September, Ukraine called on international partners to impose sanctions against the organisers of pseudo-elections in the temporarily occupied territories

On 8 September, the UN Security Council discussed Russia's attempts to organise local pseudo-elections in the occupied territories. Kyslytsia called for tough sanctions

The National Resistance Centre noted that in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, the enemy is holding pseudo-elections at "polling stations" that will be filled with state employees, students and touring artists from the Russian Federation.

Soon after, the CHESNO Movement reported that the self-proclaimed governors of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, as well as the leaders of the "DPR/LPR" terrorist groups, had topped the lists of candidates from United Russia. 

On 10 September, the command of the Defence Forces called for ignoring the pseudo-elections in the TOT. The General Staff noted that most of the candidates do not even have a university degree and work as janitors, security guards and cleaners. The occupiers simply use them to hide the real "leaders" of the occupied territories.