{"id":32347,"date":"2024-03-16T13:51:16","date_gmt":"2024-03-16T20:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=32347"},"modified":"2024-03-16T13:51:17","modified_gmt":"2024-03-16T20:51:17","slug":"vote-underway-in-ukrainian-regions-illegally-annexed-by-russia-france-24-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/03\/16\/vote-underway-in-ukrainian-regions-illegally-annexed-by-russia-france-24-english\/","title":{"rendered":"VOTE UNDERWAY IN UKRAINIAN REGIONS ILLEGALLY ANNEXED BY RUSSIA \u2022 FRANCE 24 ENGLISH"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Vote underway in Ukrainian regions illegally annexed by Russia \u2022 FRANCE 24 English\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ozMiSv8EFDc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Polls open in Russia\u2019s presidential election as Ukraine launches border attacks<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>Russia began voting on Friday in an election set to prolong President Vladimir Putin\u2019s rule by six more years, as Kyiv branded the vote a \u201cfarce\u201d and launched a barrage of deadly attacks on border regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Issued on:&nbsp;14\/03\/2024 \u2013 23:55<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/f300966e-e24d-11ee-99e9-005056bf30b7\/w:980\/p:16x9\/000_34LG6G7.jpg\" alt=\"A woman casts her ballot at a mobile polling station during early voting in Russia's presidential election in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict on March 14, 2024.\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A woman casts her ballot at a mobile polling station during early voting in Russia\u2019s presidential election in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, March 14, 2024.&nbsp;\u00a9 Stringer, AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By :<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/news-wires\">NEWS WIRES<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Video by:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/france-24-1\">FRANCE 24<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/intent\/follow?screen_name=France24_en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Follow<\/a>|<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/david-gormezano-0\">FRANCE 24<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Officials in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/moscow\/\">Moscow<\/a>&nbsp;warned against any protests during the March 15-17&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/presidential-elections\/\">presidential vote<\/a>, after calls from the opposition for anti-<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/vladimir-putin\/\">Putin<\/a>&nbsp;demonstrations on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Kremlin says the vote will show that the country is fully behind his assault on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/ukraine\/\">Ukraine<\/a>&nbsp;and polling stations have been set up in Russian-held territories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ahead of the election, Kyiv ramped up its aerial bombardment of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/russia\/\">Russian<\/a>&nbsp;regions just across their shared border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the Russian national guard said it was fighting off attacks from pro-Ukrainian militias in Kursk, the latest in a string of border clashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI am convinced: you realise what a difficult period our country is going through, what complex challenges we are facing in almost all areas,\u201d Putin said in an address to Russians on the eve of the vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd in order to continue to respond to them with dignity and successfully overcome difficulties, we need to continue to be united and self-confident.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Polling stations opened in Russia\u2019s easternmost Kamchatka peninsula at 8:00 am local time on Friday and are set to close at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) on Sunday in Kaliningrad \u2014 a Russian exclave bordering Poland and Lithuania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018Border clashes\u2019&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>All of Putin\u2019s major critics are dead, in prison or in exile, and authorities blocked the few genuine competitors who tried to stand in the contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/alexei-navalny\/\">Alexei Navalny<\/a>, Putin\u2019s most high-profile opponent over the last decade,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/live-news\/20240216-%F0%9F%94%B4-russian-opposition-leader-alexei-navalny-has-died-prison-authorities-say\">died in February in an Arctic prison colony<\/a>. He was serving 19 years for \u201cextremism\u201d, a sentence widely seen as retribution for his campaigning against the Kremlin leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moscow prosecutors warned against protests during the election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe organisation of and participation in these mass events are punishable by virtue of the legislation in place,\u201d they said in a statement posted on Telegram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Navalny\u2019s widow,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/europe\/20240306-navalny-s-widow-calls-on-russians-to-stage-election-day-protests-against-putin\">Yulia Navalnaya, has called for rallies<\/a>&nbsp;outside polling stations on Sunday, the final day of voting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kyiv has this week&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/europe\/20240314-ukraine-ramps-up-border-attacks-putin-russians-vote-presidential-election\">launched some of its most significant aerial attacks<\/a>&nbsp;since the start of the two-year conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The governor of Russia\u2019s Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said that at least three separate waves of aerial attacks had killed two people, wounding several others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He accused Ukraine of trying to \u201csow panic, distrust, anger and resentment, in order to break the unit of our society\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pro-Ukrainian paramilitaries also claimed to be escalating attacks and incursions in Russian border regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/europe\/20240314-anti-putin-russian-groups-stage-new-cross-border-raids-russia-ukraine\">Anti-Putin Russian groups stage new cross-border raids into Russia<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a joint statement, three pro-Kyiv volunteer groups \u2014 claiming to consist of anti-Kremlin Russians who have taken up arms \u2014 called on authorities to evacuate civilians from the regions of Belgorod and Kursk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCivilians should not suffer from the war and any casualties in the process of fighting will be on the conscience\u201d of the regions\u2019 governors, they added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Russia has denied militias\u2019 claims to have gained ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The national guard said its units had beaten back one such attack near the village of Tyotkino in Kursk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The defence ministry said it had fended off another by Ukrainian forces trying to enter Belgorod via the village of Spodariushino, without saying when the clash had happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018Not to stray\u2019&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Election victory will allow Putin to stay in the Kremlin until at least 2030, a longer spell in power than any Russian leader since Catherine the Great in the 18th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He called on Russians to use the vote to show their unity behind his leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe have already shown that we can be together, defending the freedom, sovereignty and security of Russia,\u201d he said in a video message, flanked by flags of the Russian tricolour and the president\u2019s state insignia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cToday it is critically important not to stray from this path,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Early voting was already underway in occupied territories of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/ukraine\/\">&nbsp;Ukraine.<\/a>&nbsp;The vote will also take place in Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014 \u2014 a move that most of the international community refuses to recognise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller condemned the voting in Russian-held areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe United States does not and will never recognize the legitimacy or outcome of these sham elections held in sovereign Ukraine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Mariupol, election officials on Thursday opened pop-up polling stations at small tables in the street and on the hoods of cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Banners were unfurled sporting a red, white and blue \u201cV\u201d logo \u2014 an army symbol used as a sign of support for the military offensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ukraine\u2019s foreign ministry on Thursday urged the international media and public figures \u201cto refrain from referring to this farce as \u2018elections\u2019 in the language of democratic states\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>(AFP)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Polls open in Russia\u2019s presidential election as Ukraine launches border attacks Russia began voting on Friday in an election set to prolong President Vladimir Putin\u2019s rule by six more years, as Kyiv branded the vote a \u201cfarce\u201d and launched a barrage of deadly attacks on border regions. Issued on:&nbsp;14\/03\/2024 \u2013&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/03\/16\/vote-underway-in-ukrainian-regions-illegally-annexed-by-russia-france-24-english\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32347"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32347"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32349,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32347\/revisions\/32349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}