Kiev Denounces Russian Parliamentary Elections Results as Illegitimate

Ukraine's legislators denounced on Tuesday the results of the Sunday elections to the Russian State Duma, the parliament's lower chamber, as illegitimate by adopting a corresponding decree with a vote of 264 to one, with one abstention.

KIEV (Sputnik) — The decision was Kiev's response to the participation of its former region of Crimea, which reunified with Russia after a 2014 referendum, in the Russian parliamentary elections.

"The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine decrees: to denounce the legitimacy of the elections to the 7th State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, its results and judicial consequences as well as lineup, functions, acts of legislation and decisions of the 7th State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation," the decree reads.

The Ukrainian legislators expressed intention to urge the UN Security Council and the General Assembly as well as foreign parliaments not to recognize the Russian parliamentary elections.

On Sunday, Ukrainian authorities tried to block Russian diplomatic missions to prevent Russian nationals from reaching polling stations.

Crimea, which on Sunday took part in the Russian parliamentary election for the first time, reunified with Russia after over 96 percent of the local population supported the move in a 2014 referendum following the coup in Kiev that toppled former President Viktor Yanukovych. Ukraine, as well as the West, did not recognize the move.