Occupation authorities say more than half a million people took part in illegal elections in Crimea

The occupation authorities of Crimea have announced the participation of more than half a million people in the illegal elections of deputies to the Russian parliament of Crimea, as well as city and village councils, organized by Russia.

This was reported by Krym.Realii with reference to the head of the occupation election commission in Crimea Mikhail Malyshev .

"519,249 voters cast their ballots, which is 35.21% in total. This is the turnout at 10 am," they quote Malyshev as saying.

Earlier, according to the newspaper, it was reported that almost 1.5 million residents of the peninsula will take part in the illegal elections, according to the Russian authorities. There are 1129 polling stations in Crimea. In total, 265 election campaigns are taking place in Crimea, and 2,979 parliamentary seats will be filled, 75 of which are in the Russian parliament of Crimea.

The day before,the Yellow Ribbon Movement called on Crimeans to ignore the illegal elections on the annexed Crimean peninsula. It is also known that there are no official international observers during these elections. The international community, the UN, the OSCE and other organizations do not recognize these elections, their results or deputies.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine commented on Russia's holding of elections in Crimea and Sevastopol, stating that it is a violation of the norms and principles of international law and calls this vote illegitimate.

<b>"</b>The so-called "elections" in the Russian Federation have long since turned into a farce, have nothing to do with the manifestation of democracy, and their holding in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine in violation of the norms and principles of international law actually delegitimizes the Russian political system," the Foreign Ministry said.

In his turn, the Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov also considers these so-called elections illegal and illegitimate, the results of which are legally null and void. He pointed out that the Russian occupation authorities started "voting" on September 6.

"This will allow them to falsify both the number of people who allegedly came to the polling stations and the "results" of illegal voting," the politician believes.