Based on this article from a US Leftist here. The US Left is horrible on the subject of Russia. They are as brainwashed and imperialist as any neocon. It is sickening.
Yes, Russian elections in the Crimea and elsewhere are crooked or ‘unfree’.
The problem here is it doesn’t matter. Repeated, completely fair opinion polls by anti-Russian Western pollsters have repeatedly found support for Russia’s annexation of Crimea at 83-89%. In other words, Crimeans massively support Russia’s annexation by scientific polling, so elections are irrelevant. Incidentally, the polling lines up almost perfectly with the results from the elections.
Repeated polling by anti-Russian Western pollsters has found massive support for independence from the Ukraine. The latest poll showed that only 6% of the Donbass supported the anti-independence project of the Ukrainian government. 90% of the Donbass voted to secede. This is about the same number as want independence in polling. Once again, the elections are irrelevant and the results line up perfectly with scientific polling anyway.
