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Disinfo: Kyiv prevented Donbas residents from voting in the elections

Summary

The authorities in Kyiv is refusing the residents of Donbas the right to vote in Ukraine’s presidential elections. Ukraine did not give a vote to residents of the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine. In the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, not a single polling station was opened.

Disproof

A recurring narrative on the Ukraine elections. According to OPORA civic network, an election watchdog, voting stations were opened in both regions. In Donetsk oblasts, there are 12 electoral districts (for an estimated 1.4 million voters), while in Luhansk oblast, there are 6 districts (for an estimated 522,000 voters). They were all open according to schedule.

Voting stations were even opened in the zone of military operations in Donbas – where military personnel are voting. According to Ukraine’s General Staff, there are a total of 79 special voting stations in the area of the Joint Forces Operation: 14 in Luhansk oblast and 65 in Donetsk oblast. “Voting has been organised in accordance with the law and is occurring without excesses,” according to the military.

On top, the website of the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine advises that residents of the Donbas, who live in territory not controlled by Kyiv, can still participate in the elections. To do this, they have to come to the Department of State for Voter Registration in order to submit an application.
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  • Reported in: Issue 143
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 31/03/2019
  • Language/target audience: Russian
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Keywords: Donbas, Elections
  • Outlet: Channel One TV, Tolstoy (05:40), News on Channel One
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It is a myth that Russia invaded and occupied Crimea

It is a myth that Russia invaded and occupied Crimea. On March 18, 2014, the Crimean peninsula was reunited with the Russian Federation.

April 02, 2019
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative on the illegal annexation of Crimea.

Crimea is a part of Ukraine illegally annexed by Russia. In 2014, the Russian troops forced the parliament of Crimea to organize an illegal referendum and then conducted the annexation of it that has been condemned by the UNGA (see the resolution A/RES/68/262 on the territorial integrity of Ukraine).

Transcarpathia has trouble with Ukrainian government, like the East of Ukraine

Five years after the annexation of Crimea to Russia it seems that another region of Ukraine has a discord with the central government: Transcarpathia.

Tensions between Kiev and Budapest on the Transcarpathia issue began several months ago.The minority of Trascarpatia is struggling for its right to education in the Hungarian language.
Like Russian speakers in the East of Ukraine, Hungarian speakers rose up against this law adopted in September 2018. In the past, Ukraine did not hesitate to shoot at its own people. In Donbass, since 2014, the inhabitants of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk die. But why are they attacking Hungary which is part of NATO and the EU?
If Ukraine goes on like this, they will end up offending Viktor Orban for real. Russian parlamentarians promised to evaluate the situation as the EU institutions will not.
April 02, 2019
Disproof

Recurring disinformation regarding the Transcaprathia's possible break-away and Ukrainian disintegration. The process of implementation for the language law in Ukraine is misrepresented. The Ukrainian law №5670-d as for languages is still being discussed in the Ukrainian Parliament, it passed only a first reading in October 2018.

In March 2019, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto demanded that Ukraine amend the law on education and postpone its implementation until 2023. Issues on a transitional period until 2023 and allowing any languages in private schools are being discussed in Ukraine. Minorities' rights will be taken into account, according to the Ukrainian PM.

10 million Ukrainians are not allowed to vote in the presidential elections in Ukraine

10 million voters were not allowed to vote in the presidential elections in Ukraine. Observers from Russia were not allowed to this election. In addition, polling stations in Russia and Donbas were not open. This made it impossible for up to 10 million voters to take part in elections

 

April 02, 2019
Disproof

According to the study “The occupied Donbass: economy, demography, groups of influence. Strategies for Ukraine”, no more than 3.2 million people live in the territories controlled by pro-Russian militants of Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

Also, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Pavel Klimkin, previously noted that about three million Ukrainians live in the Russian Federation as of 2018. And in April 2018, Klimkin noted that several thousand Ukrainians who live in Russia were included in the State Register of Voters, “therefore the thesis that transferring three foreign polling stations from its territory will make it impossible for millions of Ukrainians to vote is manipulative”.Further debunking on StopFake.org.

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Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.