Over the past two years, the number of voters in the occupied territories has decreased by one million

The number of voters in the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia has decreased by approximately one million over the past two years. These findings are based on figures released by Russian authorities during their “elections” in the occupied territories.

In 2024, Russia reported 4.56 million voters there. In 2026, the Russian Central Election Commission cited a figure of 3.56 million. Thus, the difference amounts to about one million people.

 Journalist Denis Kazansky drew attention to these figures. He noted that during this period, Russia did not lose any occupied territories; on the contrary, it seized new settlements.

Kazansky suggested that the number of Ukrainians who left the occupied territories could be even higher, since children are not included in the voter rolls. Additionally, Russian military personnel and other Russian citizens who moved to the occupied territories may have been included in the Russian statistics.

For this reason, the journalist estimates the possible number of indigenous residents who have left the occupied territories at nearly 2 million. At the same time, the Russian electoral data itself must be viewed critically, as it cannot be considered reliable statistics on the actual population of the occupied territories.

Kazansky described the process of displacing the Ukrainian population from the occupied territories and replacing them with Russian citizens as “ethnic cleansing.”

Source: Denis Kazansky

As a reminder, Putin called the annexation of Ukrainian territories a just struggle by the Russian people.

Putin ordered the purchase of grain from farmers amid problems with exports through Russian ports.