Russians began voting on Friday in a three-day presidential election that is expected to give Vladimir Putin another six-year term. The conflict in Ukraine is also getting worse.
Vladimir Putin, who has been in power since the end of 1999, wants the election to show that Russians support his military actions in Ukraine.
Voting places in Russia opened at 8:00 am on Friday and will close at 8:00 pm on Sunday. This is happening across 11 time zones, from the Far Eastern Kamchatka peninsula to Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave.
If Putin wins, he can remain in power until 2030, which is longer than any Russian leader since the eighteenth century.
As voting began, both Moscow and Kyiv reported civilian deaths from overnight aerial strikes.
Putin asked Russians to support him during a “difficult period.”
He said in a message on state TV that it is crucial to stay united and protect Russia's freedom, sovereignty, and security.
Putin is feeling confident after his troops made territorial gains in Ukraine and the death of his critic, Alexei Navalny, last month.
Alexei Navalny, Putin's outspoken critic, died in prison recently after serving 19 years on “extremism” charges, which many believe were revenge for his opposition to the Kremlin.
Western governments and Kyiv have criticized the election as a “sham” and “farce.”
– ‘Above all, victory’ –
In Moscow, some residents lined up early to vote. A 70-year-old woman named Lyudmila said, “It’s important to vote, for Russia’s future.”
She supports Putin and hopes for a victory in Ukraine.
Another voter named Natan, 72, wants the government to focus on increasing employment and maintaining stability in the country.
With Putin's major opponents out of the picture, the election outcome seems certain.
Election authorities prevented genuine opposition candidates from running against Putin, and a state-run pollster predicted that Putin would get over 80 percent of the votes earlier this week.
– ‘Landslide victory’ –
Voting was also taking place in parts of eastern Ukraine that Russia claims it has annexed.
Armed soldiers accompanied election officials in the eastern Donetsk region as they set up mobile voting stations on small tables in the street and on cars.
Kyiv called the vote a “farce” and said that holding the election in eastern Ukraine and Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, was “illegal.”
On Friday, the leader of the European Union, Charles Michel, mockingly praised Putin for his overwhelming victory in the election.
Those who are against Putin still want to disrupt the voting process. Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Navalny, is one of the people urging voters to gather outside polling stations at midday on Sunday, the last day of voting, as a way to protest.
The Moscow prosecutors cautioned that they would take action against anyone involved in the planning and participation of these large gatherings.
– Ukrainian attacks –
This week, Kyiv has carried out some of its biggest air strikes on Russia, with some reaching hundreds of kilometers into Russian territory, and pro-Kyiv guerrilla fighters attempting cross-border raids.
Officials appointed by Russia in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk reported on Friday that overnight shelling resulted in the deaths of three children, while Kyiv claimed that a Russian drone strike in the central Vinnytsia region killed two people.
Voters in Belgorod had to evacuate a polling station and go to a bomb shelter after authorities issued an air alert and instructed people to seek cover, as reported by the RIA Novosti state-run news agency. Russia’s defense ministry stated that Ukraine had launched seven rockets at the region.
On Friday, Moscow also seemed to admit that pro-Ukrainian militias had temporarily taken control of territory inside Russia during three days of cross-border raids.
The defense ministry stated that it had regained full control over a settlement in the Belgorod region after using artillery, air strikes, and guided bombs to target the fighters, who are Russians opposed to the Kremlin.
by Agence France Presse
