Russia’s parliamentary election has, for the first time, included residents of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claimed to have annexed after launching its full-scale invasion. The move covers parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia under Russian control. Kyiv has condemned the voting as illegal and urged other countries and international bodies not to recognise the results.

Voting across Russia began on Friday and will continue until Sunday. Balloting in the Russia-held parts of Ukraine, along with some areas on Russia’s side of the border, started at the end of last month. Russian officials cited security concerns for the extended voting period. Moscow says more than 3.5 million voters are registered across the four annexed regions.

Russia declared the regions part of its territory in September 2022, despite not having full control over them. The annexation has not been recognised internationally. Voting is also being held in Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.

Russian President Vladimir Putin highlighted the importance of the vote during a speech on Wednesday. He said residents of the four regions would elect members of the State Duma for the first time since their “reunification with Russia”. Russian soldiers involved in the war are also voting.

“Your choice and resolve will once again demonstrate that millions of people stand behind our fighters, that we are a united people, bound by shared values, historical memory, and love for the Motherland and that nobody can divide or intimidate us, undermine our statehood and political system,” Putin said.

The Kremlin’s move has drawn strong criticism from Ukraine. Authorities in Kyiv termed the voting illegal and asked foreign governments and international organisations not to recognise the election. They also warned Ukrainians that helping organise the vote could lead to criminal charges.

Nine Ukrainian human rights groups urged residents in the Russia-held territories to avoid the polls. “We urge residents of the temporarily occupied territories, above all, to protect their lives and health and to look after their own safety,” the coalition said in a statement. “Holding Russian elections in the temporarily occupied territories is an attempt to use the electoral process to legitimise the Russian occupation and the attempted annexation of Ukrainian territories.”

European Commission spokesperson Christian Wigand also rejected the vote. He said the voting in the Russian-held areas was “another blatant violation of international law. The European Union does not, and will never recognise either the holding of these, so-called elections, sham elections, in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine or their results.”

Violeta Artemchuk, coordinator of the Donbas SOS human rights group, said residents were being pressured to participate. She said election officials, accompanied by Russian troops and security agents, were going door to door. According to Artemchuk, public-sector workers faced threats of dismissal, with their pensions and social assistance linked to participation in elections.

Volodymyr Fesenko, a political analyst with the Kyiv-based Penta Centre, said, “elections held at gunpoint are a farce.” He said voting amid continued shelling and bombing showed the Kremlin’s attitude toward the people and electoral process in the occupied territories. “It’s nothing short of a mockery. Any electoral procedures conducted by the Russian occupation authorities have nothing to do with democracy,” he said.