Tsahkna said the ongoing elections have been neither free nor fair and had the sole purpose of consolidating Vladimir Putin's grip on power.

"The Kremlin imposed particularly severe restrictions on the opposition and its supporters ahead of these elections," Tsahkna noted. He said candidates deemed unacceptable by the regime, and critics of Russia's war against Ukraine, were excluded from political competition, with distorted registration requirements, administrative measures and criminal prosecutions used to that end.

Tsahkna cited the banning from running of Yabloko, the only registered party running on a peace platform, as "a telling example of the Kremlin's determination to cling to its monopoly on power."

The minister said the absence of independent international observers, alongside growing repression and systematic suppression of the opposition, meant "this political performance orchestrated by Putin bears no resemblance to free elections." He described it as "yet another ritual intended to reaffirm and prolong Putin's rule."

Tsahkna also condemned the holding of elections in Ukrainian territories illegally occupied by Russia: Crimea and the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts. The minister noted this constitutes a clear violation of international law and of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"Through these so-called elections, Russia seeks to legitimize its illegal occupation policy and create a legal basis for extending its jurisdiction in Ukraine," Tsahkna said. He said Estonia unequivocally condemns this and is working to ensure the organization of elections in occupied Ukrainian territory is met with clear international consequences.

Tsahkna reiterated Estonia's support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Ukraine launched what Moscow's mayor called the biggest ever drone attack on the Russian capital on Sunday, but the Kremlin said the attempt to disrupt the final day of a parliamentary election had failed. The State Duma vote, the first since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine started in 2022, is expected to see Putin's party, United Russia ,retain its dominance in a system critics say does not tolerate dissent, with most anti-war candidates barred from the ballot. Putin has cast the election as a test of public support for the war, and is likely to present the outcome as evidence of national unity.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!