While Ukraine’s authorities have branded the upcoming elections in Crimea “illegal,” the republic’s chief prosecutor noted that Kiev’s current regime, itself, was installed undemocratically, while slamming its statement as “speculative and irresponsible.”

“This is nothing but senility and we can say that their senility is progressing,” Natalya Poklonskaya told RIA Novosti. “They should rather deal with their own elections, bearing in mind that in 2014 they had an illegal armed power grab, after which they just appointed their own people to all the posts, in violation of the Ukrainian Constitution. They have plenty of things to do there.”

Her remarks came soon after the Ukrainian Ministry for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons issued a statement in which it called all elections that are to take place in the Republic of Crimea on September 18 – all-Russia election day – “illegal,” while threatening to hold all those who participate in organizing the polls criminally responsible.

READ MORE: ‘Worse than treason’: Putin warns against speculation on nation’s problems ahead of polls



Prosecutor Poklonskaya called these threats “speculative and irresponsible,” saying that the Kiev authorities were merely trying to distract Ukrainian citizens from the country’s dire problems.

Natalia Poklonskaya became Crimea’s chief prosecutor at age 33 very soon after the republic seceded from Ukraine and joined the Russian Federation in 2014. The newly installed regime in Kiev reacted by threatening her with arrest, and Ukrainian nationalists reportedly even plotted to assassinate her, but were thwarted by Russian security services.

In June of this year, Poklonskaya announced that she herself would be running in the September elections for a seat in Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of the country’s legislative branch, on the ticket of United Russia, a centrist, pro-Putin political party.

READ MORE: Crimea prosecutor Poklonskaya ready to run for parliament on pro-Putin party ticket



“I plan to work in the State Duma if I am elected. This is a new level and I plan to apply the skills and knowledge I have received while working in law enforcement,” Poklonskaya told reporters. “[President] Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] has charged us with renewing the State Duma and I would like to be a part of this process.”