Russia – Legislative elections in Russia and the Ukrainian territories illegally occupied by Russia (September 21, 2026)

France takes note of the expected result of the legislative elections held in Russia from September 18 to 20. We regret that the conditions for holding free, pluralistic, democratic elections were once again not met.

The heightened repression of civil society and the opposition, the exclusion of several political parties, the growing restrictions on freedom of speech and the prohibition of independent media outlets undermine the Russian people’s ability to freely make and express their choices, at a time when the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, which has continued for four and a half years, threatens both the present and future of the Russian people.

France regrets that Russia has once again decided – contrary to its international commitments – to refrain from inviting the election observation mission of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), an institution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The election therefore took place with no impartial international observers.

Furthermore, France condemns Russia’s organization of  “elections” in the Ukrainian territories it temporarily occupies – the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sebastopol, and part of the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. This is yet another violation of international law and the UN Charter. France absolutely does not recognize the holding and results of these “elections” and reaffirms its commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.

France also condemns Russia’s establishment of polling stations in the occupied separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and in the Republic of Moldova’s Transnistria region, without the consent of Georgian and Moldovan authorities.