Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to extend his nearly quarter-century rule for another six years on Sunday after concluding an election that left voters with no real alternative to an autocratic ruler who ruthlessly dissented. Is.
The three-day election, which began on Friday, has been held in a tightly controlled environment, with no public criticism of Putin or his war in Ukraine allowed. Putin’s staunchest political foe, Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic prison last month and other critics are either in jail or in exile.
The 71-year-old Russian leader faces three token rivals from Kremlin-friendly parties who have avoided any criticism of his 24-year rule or his full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago. Putin has touted Russian battlefield successes ahead of the vote, but a massive Ukrainian drone strike across Russia early Sunday served as a reminder of the challenges Moscow faces.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported shooting down 35 Ukrainian drones overnight, four of which were near the Russian capital. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said there were no casualties or damage.
Russia’s wartime economy has proven resilient, expanding despite Western sanctions. The Russian defense industry has served as a major development engine, working around the clock to produce missiles, tanks and ammunition.
Russia’s fragmented opposition has urged people unhappy with Putin or the war to express their opposition by coming to the polls on Sunday afternoon. This strategy was endorsed by Navalny shortly before his death.
Voting is taking place in 11 time zones across the vast country, at polling stations in illegally occupied territories of Ukraine and online. Despite tight controls, at least half a dozen cases of vandalism were reported at polling stations on Friday and Saturday.
A 50-year-old university professor was jailed for 15 days on Saturday after he tried to throw green liquid into a ballot box in the Ural city of Ekaterinburg, local news site Ura.ru reported. In the city of Podolsk, near Moscow, a woman was fined 30,000 rubles ($342) and charged with “defaming the Russian military” after her ballot was defaced with an unspecified message, according to the police monitoring group OVD-Info. charged off.
Before the election, Putin presented his war in Ukraine, now in its third year, as a life-or-death fight against the West trying to break up Russia.
Putin has touted recent advances in Ukraine, where Russian troops have made slow progress, relying on their firepower. Ukraine has responded by intensifying cross-border shelling and raids and launching drone strikes inside Russia.
Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said air raid sirens sounded several times Saturday in the Russian border city of Belgorod, where Ukrainian shelling killed two people. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had foiled attempts to enter the country by “Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups” last week following claims by the Kremlin’s Ukraine-based Russian opponents that they had carried out armed incursions into the Belgorod and Kursk regions. .
Western leaders have called the elections a mockery of democracy.
In addition to the lack of options for voters, the possibilities for independent monitoring are very limited. No significant international observers were present. Only registered, Kremlin-approved candidates, or state-backed advisory bodies, can appoint observers to polling stations, reducing the potential for independent monitors.
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Published: March 17, 2024, 02:02 PM IST
