Justice Priscilla Makanyara Chigumba

During the “presidential elections” held in Russia from 15-17 March 2024, Vladislav Davankov (“New People” party), Nikolay Kharitonov (Communist Party), Vladimir Putin, and Leonid Slutsky (Liberal-Democratic Party) competed for the presidency. Enabled to run yet again by controversial constitutional amendments effective 4 July 2020, Putin dominated the “elections” together with his controlled “opposition” excluding genuine opposition figures. These “elections” occurred under Putin’s regime control, both within Russia and illegally in occupied Ukrainian territories, including Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, ARC and Sevastopol.

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.