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Ukraine opens criminal cases against Russian MPs elected in Crimea

Criminal cases were initiated against Russian State Duma lawmakers who won parliamentary seats on charges of high treason punishable by a prison term of from 12 to 15 years

© EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

KIEV, September 26. /TASS/. The Ukrainian prosecutor’s office has opened criminal cases against members of the Russian State Duma lower parliament house elected in Crimea, the press service of the prosecutor’s office said on Monday.

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According to the press service, criminal cases were initiated against State Duma lawmakers who won parliamentary seats on the United Russia party ticket, namely Ruslan Balbek, Mikhail Sheremet and Natalia Poklonskaya, and who won seats in one-seat constituencies, namely Konstantin Bakharev, Svetlana Savchenko, Dmitry Belik and Andrei Kozenko, on charges of high treason (part 1, article 111 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code) punishable by a prison term of from 12 to 15 years.

Elections to the State Duma, or Russia’s lower house of Parliament, were held on September 18 in a split system: 225 members of parliament were elected by party tickets, while the other 225 were elected in one-seat constituencies. With 99.38% of ballots counted, Russia’s ruling United Russia party is winning 54.18% of the vote. It is followed by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, of CPRF, with 13.35% of vote, LDPR (13.16%), and A Just Russia (6.21%).

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