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Ukraine imposes sanctions on 237 Russians over parliamentary polls in Crimea, Donbass

Most of these people are members of election commissions

KIEV, October 15. /TASS/. Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council has imposed sanctions against 237 more people involved in the organization of the voting at Russia’s parliamentary elections in Crimea and the self-proclaimed republics in Donbass, the Council’s secretary Alexei Danilov said on Friday.

"A decision was taken today concerning those people who took part in the voting - organized the voting in Crimea and in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions," he said, adding that the sanctions apply to 237 people.

According to Danilov, most of these people are members of election commissions.

Earlier, Ukraine imposed sanctions against 95 people whom it claimed to be involved in the organization of elections to the Russian State Duma (lower parliament house) in Crimea.

The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula, where most residents are Russian, refused to recognize the legitimacy of authorities brought to power amid riots during a coup in Ukraine in February 2014.

Crimea and Sevastopol adopted declarations of independence on March 11, 2014. They held a referendum on March 16, 2014, in which 96.7% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification treaties on March 18, 2014. The documents were ratified by Russia’s Federal Assembly, or bicameral parliament, on March 21.

Despite the overwhelming results of the referendum, Ukraine still refuses to recognize Crimea as part of Russia.

On July 20, Russia’s Central Election Commission allowed residents of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) who have Russian passports to take part in the elections to the Russian State Duma in the online format. They could also take part in the voting offline at polling stations in Russia’s southern Rostov region. Around 50 such polling stations were organized.

Voting at the elections to the Russian State Duma was held on September 17,18, and 19.