The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine condemned today the “fake elections” organized by Russia in the occupied Ukrainian territories, saying they are “insignificant” and will have no legal status.

Russia is holding regional elections including in all four Ukrainian regions it does not fully control — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson.

The ministry said the elections taking place on Ukrainian soil “flagrantly violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” as well as international law.

“Russia’s sham elections in the temporarily occupied territories are invalid. They will have no legal consequences and will not lead to a change in the legal status of the Ukrainian territories occupied by the Russian army,” he said.

Kiev called on its international partners to denounce the vote and not recognize the results.

The foreign minister Anthony Blinken he also yesterday, Thursday, called the voting in the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine “sham elections” and said they were “illegal”.

The Russian embassy in the US responded by saying today that Washington was meddling in Russia’s internal affairs.