Hervé Juvin

In order to have a possibility to stay in power until 2036, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided, in January 2020, to change the Constitution of the Russian Federation and legitimise its change through the “all-Russian voting”. The overwhelming majority of the world’s nations does not recognise Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Autonomous Republic of Crimea in 2014 and international institutions such as the OSCE ODIHR consider Russian elections held in Crimea as illegitimate.

The 8th parliamentary election in Russia was held from 17 to 19 September 2021. With the exception of the election in Russia-annexed Crimea, this election is considered legitimate. The election held in Crimea is internationally considered to be an illegitimate election, see more on this on the election page 2021 Russian parliamentary election in annexed Crimea. Opposition candidates and independent observation of the election were prohibited and experts called this the dirtiest election in Russia's history.

In the presidential election held in Belarus on January 26, 2025, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko secured his seventh term with over 87% of the vote. The election was widely criticized by international observers and opposition figures, who labeled it a sham due to the lack of genuine competition and suppression of dissent. The EPDE has exposed how over 90 politically biased “observers” who were deployed to whitewash this fraudulent election. The Lukashenka regime, notorious for systematic human rights abuses and repression of civil society, manufactured international legitimacy by inviting hand-picked “observers”—many with direct ties to authoritarian regimes, Kremlin-linked disinformation networks, or criminal investigations in their home countries.