A candidate from the Russian Communist Party refused to recognize her recent election victory, saying the vote had been rigged.
Daria Bagina, 23, ran for the Moscow parliament in constituency 37 and won all constituencies there last Sunday. But in a series of tweets on Tuesday, she said she doesn’t acknowledge the voting results and doesn’t believe her victory was legitimate.
The recent local and regional elections in Russia took place against the background of Ukraine’s military counter-offensive in the southern regions of Kharkiv and Kherson. Over the past two decades, Russian elections have been notorious for allegations of fraud and rigging.
“I received many congratulations, but there is nothing to congratulate me on,” Bagina tweeted. She claimed that the Moscow Mayor’s Office “meanly” cast votes for her using remote electronic voting.
“I do not recognize the results of such a vote and I cannot consider my mandate legitimate,” Bagina said. “I still have a lot to figure out to understand why it was necessary and what to do with it later.”
Сверстали, напечатали and распространили новый выпуск «Буревестника» by почтовым ящикам Академического района.
Рубрика «Рыдал, но сделал»)) pic.twitter.com/mmoZfwtFUn
— Дарья Багина (@daria_bagina) July 25, 2022
Bagina wrote that in her six years in politics she had never felt so “morally disgusting”.
“Thank you to those who have found the opportunity these days to support me, give me advice and help me find the right solution,” she said.
Это я после поквартирки решаюсь попросить твиттерских о помощи..
Мы уже собрали половину денег для того, чтобы выпустить новый тираж газеты. Последний рывок and my сможем распространить его уже на следующей неделе.
Нужна ваша поддержка!)
Инструкция в реплаях. pic.twitter.com/aX7x7Pkm0u— Дарья Багина (@daria_bagina) August 19, 2022
A biography on the website of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation states that Bagina was an assistant to State Duma deputy Denis Parfyonov, and then an assistant and adviser to Moscow City Duma deputy Lyubov Nikitina. Last year she was nominated as a running mate in the by-elections for the 37th constituency in Moscow.
Members of a local election commission empty a ballot box at a polling station after the last day of a three-day parliamentary election in Moscow September 19, 2021. This week a Communist Party candidate refused to accept her recent election to the Moscow parliament. ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images
Speaking to Balkanist magazine last September about her 2021 election to constituency 37, Bagina said her victory was “taken remotely by electronic voter fraud, just like the other communists running for the State Duma.”
“There is no longer even an imitation of free elections in Russia. Even before the elections, the communists were attacked by the town hall administration. This calls into question the results and legitimacy of the 2021 elections in Russia,” she said.
President Vladimir Putin’s ruling party has often won elections by massive landslides, but it has tried to maintain its democratic legitimacy by allowing other parties to participate in races.
Simultaneously with the Russian elections, so-called mock referendums on accession to Russia were to be held in Kherson. But Kirill Stremousov, a Kremlin-installed leader in the region, said they were “paused” because of a security situation.
Stremousov, deputy head of the Russia-appointed military-civilian regional administration, told state TV channel Rossiya-1 that local officials are focused on protecting Kherson residents amid the Ukrainian counter-offensive, according to Russian state news agency TASS. Kyiv is attempting to recapture the region occupied by Russian forces in March.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called the referenda “bogus” and “false” and compared them to a similar referendum held in Crimea before it was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Newsweek has reached out to Russian authorities for comment.