"Sergey Kuzhugetovich, hello"

A video report by a public sector employee from the LPR “for the Lugansk operational headquarters” was published on YouTube — about how he voted electronically for other people

On September 18, the anonymous YouTube channel “Elections in LNR 2021,” which has virtually no subscribers, published a video report from an alleged employee of one of the budgetary organizations in Alchevsk, a city in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic. In the 16-minute video, a certain man showed how he voted electronically in the State Duma elections for other people. Novaya Gazeta drew attention to the video. Who published this video and how authentic it is is still unknown.

The video begins with a Word document shown on the screen with a table listing dozens of names and surnames of alleged Alchevsk residents, along with their email addresses, passwords for their accounts on Gosuslugi, and their Russian passport details.

"September 17, the first day of electronic voting," the man says in the recording. "Electronic report from the Alchevsk Center for Culture and Folk Art for the election commission." Then the author of the video shows himself voting instead of a certain Nadezhda: he goes to the "Gosuslugi" website, then to the voting page, receives an authorization code by email to Nadezhda, and opens the electronic ballot.

"Who are we going to vote for, Nadezhda? Probably for United Russia," the man says, after which he starts flipping through the electronic ballot. "The Communists - no votes. The Greens - no votes. The LDPR, Vladimir Volfovich - no votes. I don't even know them. So, number five, as they said at the meeting. Unfortunately, we have no other options."

After that, he tries to vote, but the system suggests studying the entire ballot. "Why? What's the point?" he asks, after which he votes for United Russia and adds: " Sergey Kuzhugetovich , hello."

Then the author of the video continues voting for other people. As the video progresses, he says that he is recording a “report for the Central Election Commission,” then that it is a report “for the Lugansk operational headquarters.” He complains that the voting procedure turned out to be more complicated than they taught “at seminars,” and that the voting system “is slow.” At one point, he says, “If everyone really voted for themselves, all of this would simply be unrealistic here.”

Having voted again, the author of the video sends greetings to "Sergey Viktorovich" — Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, number two on the United Russia list. Having voted again, he says: "I hope they'll add something to my salary." He repeats "Vote for the five" several times. And at the end of the video he says: "I must say that the system is quite secure. It's practically impossible for an outsider to vote, unless you know the password and login for all of this."

Residents of the LPR (as well as the DPR) with Russian passports can vote in the State Duma elections online or at polling stations in Russia. By the evening of September 19, about 150 thousand people from Donbass voted remotely in the elections, said Kirill Vyshinsky, member of the Presidential Council for Human Rights and executive director of the Rossiya Segodnya agency.

Several hundred bus tours to Rostov Oblast were organized for residents of the DPR and LPR. Some voters who came to vote from the Donbass republics were given Russian passports right in front of the polling stations.

Don't miss the Meduza stream, where our political podcast hosts Andrey Pertsev and Konstantin Gaaze will sum up the election results. Today, September 19, 22:00. Subscribe to it here .

Alexander Baklanov

Cover photo: Anatoly Zhdanov / Kommersant