The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine welcomes the joint statement issued on 6 August 2026 by the leadership of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) concerning the refusal of the Russian Federation to invite OSCE observers to the upcoming elections to the State Duma.

Russia’s refusal to invite OSCE observers constitutes yet another violation of the commitments undertaken by all OSCE participating States under the 1990 Copenhagen Document. The upcoming elections will be the third consecutive nationwide electoral process in the Russian Federation conducted without independent OSCE observation. This deprives voters and the international community of the opportunity to receive an objective assessment of a process taking place amid the systematic suppression of political competition, independent media, civil society, and independent election observation.

At the same time, the fundamental problem extends far beyond Moscow’s compliance with electoral standards on its own territory. The Russian Federation is seeking to use the electoral process as yet another instrument to legitimize its attempted annexation of Ukraine’s sovereign territories.

In this context, the clear and unequivocal position of ODIHR and the OSCE PA regarding the illegality of Russia’s intention to organize voting in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, and the absence of any legal effect under international law of the results of such so-called “elections”, is particularly important.

The incorporation of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine into the Russian electoral system, the establishment of electoral districts there, the organization of voting, and the inclusion of its results in the overall vote count constitute gross violations of the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, international humanitarian law, and relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly.

Any voting organized by the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine is illegal and null and void. Ukraine will recognize neither its results, nor any decisions of the occupation “electoral commissions”, nor the mandates of persons whom Russia declares “elected” from the sovereign territories of Ukraine. The inclusion of unlawfully obtained votes in the overall Russian vote count will neither confer legality upon them nor produce any legal consequences.

The forced involvement of Ukrainian citizens in such voting under conditions of armed occupation, repression, forced passportization, and administrative pressure cannot be regarded as a free expression of the will of the people and under no circumstances may be interpreted as consent to the occupation or attempted annexation.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine calls on foreign states, international organizations, and parliamentary assemblies to clearly and unequivocally confirm in advance their non-recognition of any voting and its results in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine; to refrain from sending their representatives or so-called “international observers” there; not to recognize the mandates of persons claiming to have been elected from Ukrainian territories; not to allow international parliamentary platforms to be used for their legitimization; and to refrain from any actions that could contradict the policy of non-recognition of the Russian occupation.

All persons knowingly involved in the preparation, organization, conduct, and propaganda support of the illegal voting must be held accountable. We call on Ukraine’s partners to impose appropriate restrictive measures against such persons, including individual sanctions.

We expect that the principled assessment set out in the joint statement by the OSCE PA and ODIHR will be consistently reflected in all subsequent documents and public positions of OSCE institutions concerning this electoral process.