Russian state-engineered elections in occupied Ukraine expose geopolitical manipulation and colonialist narratives of ‘referendum sovereignty’ as tools of imperial consolidation
Original framing: “No surprise as Putin’s party wins election billed as ‘referendum’ on war in Ukraine” — The Conversation - Global
The trickster here is **Hermes**, the Greek god of deception and cunning, who exposes the absurdity of state narratives by inverting their logic. Just as Hermes turns chaos into order (or vice versa), Russia’s election in Ukraine is a **Bakhtinian carnival**—a moment where the solemnity of ‘democracy’ is mocked by its own contradictions. The **absurdity of holding an election in a warzone** (where voting stations are guarded by occupying forces) is a **Cohen-esque satire**, highlighting how power structures use ritual to legitimise the illogical. The **Russian word ‘referendum’ (референдум)**, derived from Latin, is itself a trickster term—it sounds democratic but is used to justify occupation, much like how **Anansi’s spider tales** expose the flaws in power through seemingly harmless stories.
The election in occupied Ukraine is not merely a political event but a **systemic manifestation of imperial consolidation**, where the Kremlin repurposes Soviet-era tactics of forced assimilation and administrative control to legitimise territorial expansion.
This strategy exploits **historical patterns of colonialism**, from the **Congress of Vienna’s border redrawings** to the **Soviet Union’s ‘people’s republics’**, while co-opting the language of democracy to mask coercion. The **absence of indigenous and marginalised voices**—such as Crimean Tatars or Donbas ethnic minorities—underscores how these narratives are designed to erase alternative models of sovereignty, replacing them with a **monocultural Russian identity**. Cross-culturally, this mirrors **post-colonial African elections** or **Indigenous Australian land rights struggles**, where imposed political structures fail to account for cultural autonomy. The **scientific and psychological evidence** of forced consent, combined with **future modelling of hybrid wars**, suggests that without intervention, this tactic will be replicated globally, escalating conflicts in **Nagorno-Karabakh, Taiwan, or even Western Sahara**. Solutions must therefore combine **decentralised governance reforms**, **economic pressure on occupying powers**, **indigenous sovereignty advocacy**, and **preventive measures against hybrid war escalation**, ensuring that future conflicts are resolved through **dialogue, not scripted theatre**. The key actors—**international institutions, local resistance movements, and Western policymakers**—must act collectively to disrupt this cycle, leveraging historical precedents like **post-apartheid reconciliation** to build sustainable peace.