Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree on Saturday, September 27, imposing sanctions on 44 individuals linked to the organization of Russian State Duma elections in occupied Ukrainian territories. The sanctions target individuals involved in the voting process held between September 18 and 20, marking the first time Moscow organized parliamentary voting across occupied regions of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk.
## Sanctions Target Dual Citizens and Local Collaborators
According to the Office of the President of Ukraine, 38 of the 44 sanctioned individuals hold both Ukrainian and Russian citizenships. Several of these individuals previously secured seats as deputies in locally formed councils on temporarily occupied Ukrainian soil.
The restrictive measures follow Russia’s decision to establish single-mandate districts in regions occupied after 2022 for the 2026 legislative cycle. Election outcomes announced by Moscow placed several high-profile figures and local political actors into the Russian State Duma under the United Russia party banner.
In the Donetsk region, outcomes favored Channel One “war correspondent” Irina Kuksenkova and Alexander Borodai, the former “head” of the self-proclaimed republic. In the Luhansk region, “deputies of the local parliament” Denis Kolesnikov and Ivan Sanaev secured seats. Aleksey Tikhomirov won a mandate representing occupied Zaporizhzhia, while Elena Dmitruk, “deputy chair of the local parliament”, took the seat for Kherson.
An additional eight representatives from occupied territories entered the Duma via federal party lists. Among them is Sergei Arbuzov, who served as the first vice prime minister of Ukraine under Viktor Yanukovych and as the former head of the National Bank of Ukraine. Arbuzov ran as a candidate nominated by the A Just Russia party.
## International Condemnation and European Union Response
Ukraine, the European Union, and Western allies rejected the legitimacy of the Russian parliamentary elections conducted in occupied Crimea, Sevastopol, and parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts.
In a statement issued on September 21, the EU High Representative on behalf of the bloc condemned the vote as a violation of international law, the United Nations Charter, and Ukrainian sovereignty. The European Union criticized Moscow for excluding international observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and stated that those responsible for organizing the balloting or fielding candidates in occupied regions will face targeted EU sanctions.
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