Why Vladimir Putin is an illegitimate president of Russia
In May 2024, Vladimir Putin was “elected” to his fifth presidential term. This “vote” was also conducted in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories, which Russia has illegally annexed—making both the election and its “winner” entirely illegitimate.
The Russian occupation of Ukrainian territories is not recognized by any civilized nation. Holding elections in Ukraine’s TOT blatantly violates not only Ukraine’s Constitution and laws but also the 1907 Hague Conventions, the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, the 1994 Memorandum on security assurances in connection with Ukraine’s accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the 1997 Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership between Ukraine and Russia, and other international legal instruments.
European nations have condemned these sham elections. Both PACE and the European Parliament adopted resolutions denouncing them, while Ukraine’s Central Election Commission declared on May 8, 2024, that the Russian “election results” in the TOT are null and void—rendering the person “elected” in such “elections” illegitimate.
In reality, Putin has held unchecked power in Russia for nearly 25 years. He is now in his fifth presidential term—his third consecutive one.
▫️ To keep Putin in power beyond his second term in 2008, the Russian Constitution was amended twice, most notably in 2020, when a reform “nullified” his previous presidential terms.
