Ukrainians living under Russian occupation are coerced to vote for Putin

By YURAS KARMANAU and EMMA BURROWS
Associated Press

Ukrainians living in regions illegally annexed by Russia are being coerced to vote in the presidential election of their wartime occupier, Vladimir Putin, an exercise denounced by Ukraine as an illegitimate effort by Moscow to tighten control over its neighbor. People in Russia don’t begin voting en masse until Friday, but polls are already open for Ukrainians in four annexed regions close to the front line, some of which are not fully in Putin’s control. Many Ukrainians fled these regions — or were deported by Russia — after Putin’s invasion two years ago. There are reports of people being forced to vote at gunpoint, and one analyst described the election as an extension of the war itself.