An "international observer from Italy" named Eliseo Berliosi appears in the NTV story . His words were also published by the state-owned RIA Novosti. “I did not see any violation of the law, I saw complete freedom,” Berliosi told reporters.
According to the photo of this Italian, a certain Eliseo Bertolazi is easily found on the net. According to the European Platform for Democratic Elections, Bertolazi is a junior fellow at the pro-Kremlin Institute for Advanced Study in Geopolitics and Auxiliary Sciences and a correspondent for the Rossiya Segodnya news agency. The holding also includes RIA Novosti, the head of Rossiya Segodnya, we recall, propagandist Dmitry Kiselev.
Bertolazi also took part in the "Italian delegation" that visited Crimea in February 2018, it was reported that he headed it. RIA Novosti wrote that Bertolazi is the founder of the Italian company Agrovenezia. I interviewed the “resident of Gorlovka Anna Tuv”, together they held a rally in the center of Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate in support of the residents of Donbass against the Ukrainian authorities.
Another "foreign independent observer" writes Lenta.ru. This is a Frenchman whose name is Andre Michel Claude Chanclus. He is reportedly the president of the French NGO Le Collectif France-Russie. According to him, "the referendum will determine the future fate of not only these territories, but will also play a crucial role in the future of the entire European continent, and the entire world community."
On his Facebook page, Shanklu posts photos that cast doubt on his "independence". Chanclus also protested against vaccination against COVID-19.
RIA Novosti also wrote about him. Chanclus, the leader of the France-Russia association, has criticized anti-Russian sanctions after the annexation of Crimea. “Russia is accused of allegedly participating in the hostilities of the Russian military. But this was not the case and there is no evidence for this. Yes, it is obvious that there were volunteers from Russia, as well as volunteers from other countries, including France,” he said in September 2014.
In 2015, he stated that the conflict in eastern Ukraine was provoked by Washington and NATO, and "if Russia wanted to" take the situation into its own hands, "Russian troops would already be in Kiev."
In September 2021, RIA Novosti presents him as a French political scientist who comments on the transparency of the elections to the State Duma in the Rostov region. “I am happy to say that the elections are fair and transparent. Thank you for the invitation," Shanklu said.
TASS, in turn, writes about an observer from Slovakia – the president of the Slovak Association of Graduates of Russian and Soviet Universities, political scientist Ljubica Blashkova. She graduated from a Russian university, she is also called "a great friend of Russia." Blashkova is a graduate of the Volgograd State Pedagogical and Moscow State Pedagogical Institutes. Twice she improved her qualifications at Moscow State University.
Another “foreign observer” cited by TASS is German Thomas Röper, who speaks perfect Russian. He says that he has been coming to Donbas for the eighth time since March. According to him, everything is transparent, "there are a lot of people, they vote actively." Rapper is a frequent hero of Russian propaganda news. In August 2022, he spoke to state radio Sputnik about the fight against dissent and the attack on free speech in Germany.
In the meantime, while "foreign observers" do not notice violations, dozens of videos are published on the network, which show how the voting procedure is going. CCTV footage shows women carrying ballot boxes being escorted by armed soldiers.