SIMFEROPOL, Crimea (AP) — Residents of Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in March, are voting for their regional parliament in elections expected to be dominated by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s backers.

A spokesman for Ukraine’s national security council, Volodymyr Polyovyi, told reporters Sunday that Ukraine considers the election illegal and that those responsible for holding them could be charged with seizing state power, which carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years.