Russia begins elections tailored to Putin that guarantee him power until 2030. The president's three alleged rivals support the Kremlin.
The elections, which will be held from Friday to Sunday without international observers, use the opaque electronic voting system. These will be the second Russian elections – the first presidential – since 1993 without an OSCE observer mission.. The visible heads of the Russian opposition are in prison, in exile or have died. One of the dissident leaders, Alexei Navalny, died suddenly in prison one month before the elections. The Yábloko opposition party turned 30 in October.