According to Kyiv officials, the resistance movement successfully sent a message of defiance to the occupiers and halted the fraudulent ‘election’ process in the occupied city.
Newsweek was unable to independently confirm the report, so an email was sent to Russia’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday night for comment.
A few weeks before Russia’s upcoming presidential election in March, an attack has occurred. This election will be significant as it will be the first time that individuals residing in occupied territories in southern and eastern Ukraine will have the opportunity to participate in a Russian election. In the fall of 2022, Putin asserted his authority by annexing the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. However, both Kyiv and the Western nations deemed this action as illegal.
According to Ukraine’s resistance center, they claim that Russia is trying to conceal the fact that the attack on Tuesday was conducted by “forces resisting the occupation at temporarily occupied territories.” Instead of acknowledging this, Moscow has stated that the explosion was the result of a drone attack, in an attempt to avoid causing panic.
In September, Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov revealed that multiple attacks had taken place at various United Russia locations in occupied Ukraine. He reported that Putin’s party headquarters in Polohy, Zaporizhzhia, was destroyed during what he described as “hellish pseudo-elections.” These elections were being held by Russia in its four occupied territories, a process that Western and Kyiv officials deemed as a sham.
Kyiv officials vehemently denounced the attempts made to conduct elections in the occupied territories, urging global leaders in December to take a strong stance against Russia’s intention. They called for the resolute condemnation of Russia’s plans to hold presidential elections in the occupied Ukrainian territories, and proposed the imposition of sanctions on those responsible for organizing and conducting the elections.