Zelensky signs decree sanctioning 44 individuals over Russia's occupied-territory Duma "elections"
President Volodymyr Zelensky on 26 September signed a decree enacting a National Security and Defense Council decision to impose sanctions on 44 individuals involved in organising and conducting Russia's State Duma "elections" on temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Thirty-eight of the 44 sanctioned individuals hold both Ukrainian and Russian citizenship. The list includes Russian propagandist Iryna Kuksenkova and former Ukrainian deputy Yuriy Onyshchuk. Ukraine declares the vote illegitimate and plans to share information about the sanctioned individuals with international partners.
Key points
- Decree signed 26 September by President Zelensky, enacting an NSDC sanctions decision.
- The list contains 44 individuals involved in organising and conducting the occupied-territory Duma "elections".
- 38 of the 44 sanctioned individuals hold both Ukrainian and Russian citizenship.
- The list includes Russian state-channel propagandist Iryna Kuksenkova and former Ukrainian opposition deputy Yuriy Onyshchuk, who began cooperating with Russia after the occupation of Melitopol.
- Some of the sanctioned persons had previously been "elected" to seats on illegal occupation-era local councils.
- Ukraine declares the "elections" illegitimate and their results legally void, citing the Hague Regulations, the Geneva Conventions and UN General Assembly resolutions on Crimea (2014) and the four oblasts (2022).
- Ukraine plans to share sanctions information with the EU, UK, Switzerland, Norway, Australia, Canada and New Zealand to synchronise sanctions in their jurisdictions.
Why it matters
The decree is Ukraine's concrete legal response to Russia's extension of its parliamentary voting into occupied Ukrainian territory and the first such coordinated action against individuals seen as legitimising or facilitating the vote. By naming propagandists and former Ukrainian officials — and signalling that 38 of 44 hold dual Ukrainian-Russian citizenship — Kyiv frames the sanctions as a measure against those erasing Ukrainian sovereignty on occupied land. The move also anchors Ukraine's parallel push to align sanctions with the EU, UK, Switzerland, Norway, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, reinforcing the position that the occupied-territory vote and its results carry no legal weight.
What happened
On 26 September 2026, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree enacting a National Security and Defense Council decision to impose sanctions on 44 individuals involved in organising and conducting Russia's State Duma "elections" on temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Thirty-eight of the 44 hold both Ukrainian and Russian citizenship. The list includes Russian propagandist Iryna Kuksenkova and former Ukrainian deputy Yuriy Onyshchuk, who began cooperating with the Russian side after the occupation of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Some sanctioned persons had previously been "elected" as deputies of illegally created occupation-era local councils. Ukraine declares the "elections" illegitimate and their results legally void, citing mass falsifications, forced voting and pre-fabricated turnout, and says it will transmit information about the sanctioned individuals to international partners to synchronise sanctions across jurisdictions.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
All twelve supplied sources are Ukrainian and uniformly frame the 18–20 September Duma vote on occupied territory as an illegal action, placing it in scare quotes ("elections") and referring to the sanctioned individuals as having acted in Russia's interests and contributed to the occupation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, Crimea and Sevastopol. Coverage foregrounds the NSDC's role in compiling the list, the dual Ukrainian-Russian citizenship of 38 of the 44 individuals, and the named figures — Iryna Kuksenkova and Yuriy Onyshchuk — whose trajectories (a Russian state-channel war correspondent born in Donetsk, a former opposition deputy who turned after the fall of Melitopol) are presented as the human face of collaboration. Sources also underline Ukraine's legal position: that occupation confers no sovereignty, that the Hague Regulations and Geneva Conventions bind the occupying power, and that UN General Assembly resolutions on Crimea (2014) and the four oblasts (2022) support Kyiv's claim. International backing — condemnation by the EU, UK, Switzerland, Norway, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, plus Ukraine's plan to share sanctions data to synchronise measures abroad — is highlighted as the framework around the decree.
Background
Russia held State Duma elections on 18–20 September, the first Russian parliamentary vote since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. On occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts, Crimea and Sevastopol, Russia illegally formed 11 single-mandate electoral districts; "early" voting on occupied territory began on 29 August. On 21 September Russia's Central Election Commission announced preliminary results giving United Russia over 57% of the vote and a parliamentary majority; on 25 September it confirmed 349 of 450 mandates for the party. Among those elected from occupied territories were political technologist and former "DPR" leader Oleksandr Borodai and pro-war journalist Iryna Kuksenkova. Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the vote a "farce of the occupying state"; the EU, UK, Switzerland, Norway, Australia, Canada and New Zealand condemned the holding of the vote on occupied territory. The UN General Assembly adopted a 2014 resolution on Crimea and a 2022 resolution in which 143 states condemned the attempted illegal annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts and recognised it as invalid. Independent analysts noted a high likelihood of falsifications, citing lower United Russia results at polling stations with observers; Russia's CEC denied the allegations.