Voting was also held in the occupied part of Kharkiv region

The Russian authorities conducted voting in the presidential elections not only in the territories of Ukraine, the annexation of which was previously announced by Moscow, but also in the Russian-controlled territory of the Kharkiv region. This follows from the messages of the agencies.

The head of Russia’s so-called military-civil administration of the Kharkiv region, Vitaliy Ganchev, said that voter turnout was 92%. He did not say who they voted for and how many there were in absolute numbers.

After the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia controlled about a third of the Kharkiv region with the cities of Izyum, Balakleya and Kupyansk. However, almost all of it was retaken by Ukrainian troops in the fall of 2022. Only a small strip of land in the east without large settlements remained under Russian control. It is claimed that two polling stations were opened on this territory, and they also came to the residents with portable ballot boxes. It is said that it is about residents who managed to get Russian passports during the Russian occupation.

Western countries and Ukraine previously condemned the holding of voting in four regions of Ukraine, partially occupied by Russian troops, as well as Sevastopol and annexed Crimea. The difference between Kharkiv region and these regions is that Russia has not formally announced its annexation, that is, even from Moscow’s point of view, the voting was held abroad. It is not clear how it was formalized legally.

The day before, Vladimir Putin, speaking after the announcement of the preliminary results of the presidential elections, said that Russia “at some point” will try to create a so-called sanitary zone in Ukraine. This is how he answered the question about whether he considers it necessary to join Kharkiv Oblast to Russia. The question was raised in the context of shelling of Belgorod, which has intensified in recent days.

Putin did not directly reject the possibility of annexing any territories, but emphasized that “it may be necessary to create a security zone, which will be quite difficult to overcome, using the means of defeat that the enemy uses.” If we interpret his words literally, then we can talk about the threat of occupation of the territory of Ukraine at a considerable depth from the Russian border, tens or even hundreds of kilometers.

Putin also threatened with death the members of the armed formations, which in recent days carried out requests to attack the border regions of Russia, comparing them to the “Vlasov” – members of the Russian Liberation Army that fought against the USSR during the Second World War. According to Putin, although there is no death penalty in Russia, they will always (apparently, even after a hypothetical detention) be treated as “people with weapons”, that is, apparently, they will be killed. We are talking about fighters fighting on the side of Ukraine of the armed organizations “Russian Volunteer Corps” and “Legion “Freedom of Russia”, which are said to consist of Russian citizens.