Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksii Danilov, revealed in an interview with Ukrinform that Russia has commenced a significant project aimed at destabilizing the situation in Ukraine, with one of its components being the manipulation of the election theme.
According to the Constitution of Ukraine, the next parliamentary elections should take place in October 2023, and presidential elections should be in the spring of 2024. However, the conduct of elections is complicated by the legal regime of martial law in effect across the state’s territory.
“The Russian Federation is now starting a major project to destabilize the situation on the territory of Ukraine. One of the points of this project is an attempt to destabilize the election theme. And they will take a very active part in this process. Russia does not have the physical ability to defeat Ukraine militarily, so the issue of internal destabilization is number one for the Kremlin,” Danilov stated.
He believes that Russia will do “everything possible and impossible” to discredit Ukraine’s top military-political leadership, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“This is a real operation to destabilize the situation in Ukraine. We know the name of this operation. We understand who is behind it,” emphasized the NSDC secretary.
Danilov also pointed out the problem with social networks that allow anonymity, which is used to spread most fakes and disinformation. “This is a very dangerous tool of influence. Destabilizing narratives are also spread through them. In this direction – neutralizing threats – our special services are actively working,” Danilov stressed.
He also emphasized that holding elections during the war is prohibited by Ukrainian legislation. “If someone wants to conduct an ‘experiment’ to shake society, they can try to initiate the holding of elections on the territory of Ukraine. This is dangerous because if we are talking about democratic elections, it is a competitive process of candidates’ programs of political parties. Can you imagine if people are distracted from fighting the enemy during the war and engage in the electoral process? It’s hard for me to imagine,” said Danilov.
According to the International Republican Institute (IRI) poll, 62% of Ukrainians support the idea that elections should only be held after the war is over.
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