Shaded by cypress trees on Crimea’s Black Sea shore, a group of locals watch as folk singers in tall headdresses boom out a patriotic song about Russia with the lyrics: “I have no other motherland.” Two-and-a-half years after Moscow annexed the strategic peninsula from Ukraine, residents are gearing up to vote Sunday in their first polls to elect deputies to Russia’s national parliament. The ballot in Crimea — not recognised by Kiev or the international community — looks set to bind the region still closer to Moscow as the new pro-Kremlin elite cements its grip and opposition is silenced.
Andrei Kozenko once worked in the local administration when Ukraine was in charge but now the long-standing pro-Moscow activist is running for the Kremlin’s United Russia party and pushing to get the vote out.
“A high turnout shows the level of support for our president Vladimir Putin,” Kozenko, who has been serving as deputy speaker of Crimea’s local parliament, told AFP. “We will strive to tell every resident to come and vote and in this way show our Crimean unity.”
In the time since Moscow took over, the situation for ordinary Crimeans has not been easy.
Full Article: In Moscow s grip, Crimea holds first vote to Russian parliament – Yahoo7.