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Russia will defend citizens' rights to vote at election on Ukrainian territory — lawmaker

Kiev’s refusal to ensure security of Russian diplomatic missions during the elections to the State Duma on September 18 "a flagrant violation of international law," the Federation Council speaker said
Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko Russian Federation Council press service/TASS
Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko
© Russian Federation Council press service/TASS

MOSCOW, September 15. /TASS/. Russia will defend the rights of its citizens to vote in the parliamentary election at Russian diplomatic missions on the territory of Ukraine, Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko told Izvestiya daily in an interview published on Thursday.

"We will definitely defend the right of our citizens to vote at Russia’s diplomatic missions on the Ukrainian territory," Matviyenko said noting that polling stations for Russian citizens living in Ukraine will also be opened in bordering regions of Russia and Belarus.

Kiev’s refusal to ensure security of Russian diplomatic missions during the elections to the State Duma on September 18 "a flagrant violation of international law," she continued. "This is an example of reckless, provocative actions," she said reminding that polling stations will be open in 145 countries where Russian citizens reside. "We hope that European democratic organizations will declare the inadmissibility of Ukraine’s violation of international law and relevant resolutions of the Council of Europe," Matviyenko concluded.

On September 10, Poroshenko issued an instruction to inform the Russian leadership on the impossibility of holding election of the Duma deputies on the territory of Ukraine. The press secretary of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Maryana Betsa, said later setting up polling stations was impossible even on the premises of Russia’s diplomatic legations.

As a precondition for the voting in Ukraine, Kiev named the renunciation of election in Crimea and Sevastopol and the exclusion of candidates nominated by the Russian political parties in Crimea and Sevastopol from the ballots.

The Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on September 12 the Russian side would not consider any demands in this particular case.

"The thesis and conditions put forward by Ukraine surely cannot be taken into account under any circumstances," he said. "Russia won’t discuss the electoral processes on its territory with whichever country, without any doubt."

Vasily Likhachov, a member of the Russian Central Electoral Commission, told TASS earlier about 80,000 Russian voters were staying on the territory of Ukraine at present.

Election to the State Duma will be held on September 18 under a mixed system, with 225 deputies to be elected on party tickets and another 225, in single-seat constituencies.