Repression before the Russian election: Putin intensifies repression of the opposition. Many of Putin's prominent opponents are either in exile, in prison or dead.
Oleg Orlov, 70, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for discrediting the army. Boris Nemtsov was murdered with four shots in the back in February 2015 on a bridge just a few meters from the Kremlin. Many opposition figures now live abroad, such as former world chess champion Garry Kasparov.