Joint statement of the Congress of National Deputies and the League of Free Nations on the illegitimacy of the government of the Russian Federation

On 15-17 March 2024, an electoral event took place in Russia, which the current regime tried to present to Russians and world society as “elections.” In reality, we witnessed yet another criminal act, which we classify as usurpation of power. During its existence, the Putin regime has committed numerous crimes against citizens of Russia and other states, including eliminating the basic rights and freedoms of Russian citizens, destroying constitutional institutions of power, banning the activities of national, republican and regional parties, unleashing bloody wars against the nations of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Georgia, Ukraine, and other countries, consistently destroyed the identity, culture, languages ​​and self-government of the nations inhabiting the territory of the Russian Federation. Since 2014, the Putin regime has been holding criminal “referendums” and “elections” in the occupied Ukrainian territories. The electoral event on 15-17 March 2024 is a gross violation of international electoral standards. The lack of free nomination of opposition candidates, their inability to conduct election campaigns, brutal repression against activists and civil society organizations, and the destruction of the institution of independent observers make the so-called “elections” a cynical imitation of the democratic process. The organization and holding of an electoral event by the Putin regime, campaigning for it, as well as active participation in it, are crimes. Voting in pseudo-elections is also essentially complicity in this crime, promoting Putinism in its claims that “voting” reflects the will of the majority. The Congress of National Deputies and the League of Free Nations call on governments, parliaments, and international organizations not to succumb to the Kremlin’s deception, to impose sanctions against the organizers and participants of the “elections,” to strive for the dismantling of the imperial centre and ensure that all citizens inhabiting the Russian Federation have the right to vote, and all nations have the opportunity to self-determination. We appeal to the parliaments and governments of the countries of the world to follow our example – not to recognize Putin as the President of the Russian Federation, not to recognize the State Duma as parliament, to recognize the Putin regime and all its institutions as illegitimate, and Putin as a usurper of power and a self-proclaimed dictator.