Presidential elections in Russia should be delegitimised - politician Feygin

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

"As for Ukraine's strategy, it is important for it to demonstrate some successes in order to give the West the opportunity to rely on the resources of victory in domestic issues. In the West, this is very important, especially in the US: even a small success, because everything is not in vain. This does not necessarily mean success on the frontlines or the conversion of weapons and finance into military victory - everything is still relative. But in any case, what Ukraine is doing today is the maximum possible. This must be understood. If we manage to disrupt the elections and continue to take some action against Russia and its territory, it would be a great help in various issues, despite the West's dissatisfaction. If there is no headache inside Russia, which could be caused by raids on Belgorod or operational actions of the Ukrainian special services, then the Kremlin has nothing to worry about, nothing to be nervous about," Feygin explained.

According to Feygin, the war should gradually move to the territory of Russia so that every Russian feels its consequences. The politician also noted that the presidential election in Russia should be declared illegitimate.

"The frontline is far away, Putin is not bothered by it. Still, it is necessary to apply the practice of accusing Russia of war so that the population there also feels the problems directly, and not only those whose relatives are killed or who are mobilised. This tactic is important. As well as the so-called elections on March 17: we need to work to delegitimise them. We need the West to say that they do not recognise Putin as the elected president - he is a war criminal, he is being prosecuted by the International Criminal Court. This means that if he is an illegitimate president, then they should be thrown out of all organisations, up to the UN, where Russia is represented as a founding member with a veto," Feygin said.

• On December 8, Putin announced his intention to run for the Russian presidency in 2024. Later, the Russian Central Election Commission called for so-called presidential elections in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
• Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Ministry called on the international community to strongly condemn Russia's intention to hold presidential elections in the temporarily occupied territories and to impose sanctions on all those involved in their organisation and conduct.
• According to British intelligence, the Russian troops will resort to fraud and intimidation of the residents of the temporarily occupied territories during the presidential elections.