Voting for the presidential elections in Russia
until Sunday 17 March
.
The electoral round for the presidential elections in Russia has begun with the opening of the first polling stations in the far east of the country, in a climate of extreme tension due to the Ukrainian attacks on the border areas which for Moscow have the aim of "destabilizing" and Putin threatening: 'The attacks will not go unpunished'.
The mayor's office of Belgorod
, a Russian city subjected to bombing by Ukrainian forces,
has denied rumors spread by Kiev media according to which voting operations had been suspended.
“All polling stations in the region are open and voters are casting their ballots,” it said in a statement.
"Trust only official sources of information," the note adds.
A polling station in St. Petersburg was attacked with Molotov cocktails,
according to
the Russian election commission.
There were no victims.
A young woman tried to set fire to the polling station with a Molotov cocktail, according to a local election commission official, on the first day of the Russian presidential elections, which was marked by several incidents of damage.
“A 20-year-old woman tried to throw a Molotov cocktail at the sign of a polling station” located in a school, Maxime Meïksine said on Telegram.
"These illegal actions were effectively stopped by police officers. No one was injured," he added.
A
bomb has exploded outside a polling station in an occupied region of Ukraine, pro-Russian authorities in the territory said.
The bomb exploded without causing casualties in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine.
"In Skadovsk, an improvised explosive device was placed in a garbage bin in front of the polling station. There was a detonation, no casualties," the pro-Russian regional election commission said on Telegram.
Kiev's troops - reports the Ria Novosti agency - have bombed
two presidential polling stations in the part of the Kherson region
occupied by the Russians.
The local electoral commission said this, adding that in one of the two polling stations, in Brilevka, there were injured people.
The governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, posted a video of him and his wife in front of the polling station in which he invites all citizens to go to the polls.
"My wife and I - says Gladkov - are going to our polling station to do what each of us must do. Make a choice, a choice for the future for us, for our children. Vote for the President of the Russian Federation. We're sure you're all doing the same thing."
Gladkov himself had said that this morning seven Ukrainian rockets were hit in the region and that two people were injured.
The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry (GUR)
has claimed to have launched cyberattacks aimed at the online voting system
for the presidential elections in Russia.
According to Gur sources cited by RBC Ukraine, Ukrainian IT specialists created "serious problems" in the electronic voting system, including the mos.ru site, overloading the system and causing failures.
The president of the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC), Ella Pamfilova, rejected the reconstruction, speaking of "fake news" about system failures and confirming that the websites work: upon access in Russia, it appears that the portals are vybory. gov.ru and mos.ru are operational.
In any case, the Russian Ministry for Digital Development reported that the online voting system "is constantly subjected to cyber attacks", underlining that "everyone is promptly rejected".
President Putin condemned the attacks as "an attempt to intimidate people".
"As you know, presidential elections have begun in our country in accordance with the Russian Constitution. In an attempt to disrupt the electoral process and intimidate people, at least in the border areas with Ukraine, the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev is trying to carry out a series of demonstrative armed criminal actions,” Putin said, speaking at a meeting of the Russian Security Council.
Putin said he had asked Defense Minister Serghei Shoigu to report to the Council on the situation of Ukrainian attacks in the border regions.
Previously, the Kremlin leader had launched an appeal to Russians to go and vote in the name of "patriotism" to respond to the "difficulties" of the moment. It was launched by Vladimir Putin, who is appearing in the presidential elections scheduled for Friday to Sunday to get a fifth term.
The Moscow prosecutor's office, meanwhile, has warned citizens against taking part in the 'Midday against Putin' protest initiative on Sunday, promoted first by the opponent Alexei Navalny and after his death by his team, to ask citizens to all go to the polls that day at 12pm to show their opposition to the president.
Taking part in these events, the prosecutor's office warned, "is punishable by law."
“It is only up to you, Russian citizens, to determine the future of the Motherland,” Putin said in a televised address, stressing that the population must “respond to challenges in a dignified manner and successfully overcome difficulties.”
The head of the Kremlin is running for election to be confirmed as leader of the country, building on the successes achieved in the field by his troops in recent months.
In particular with the conquest of the town of Avdiivka in Donbass in February.
Since then, Moscow's forces have continued to slowly advance, while Kiev's are showing all their difficulties, due to the lack of men but also of ammunition, due to the decrease in Western aid.
Ukraine should recognize its military defeat and move to "complete and unconditional surrender", former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned.
While from Brussels the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, stated that "Ukraine needs more support and it needs it now", warning that "it is a critical moment and it would be a historic mistake to let Putin win".
The Ukrainians respond to defeats in the field with increasingly deadly drone attacks on Russian energy facilities up to hundreds of kilometers from the border and with support for Russian paramilitary groups part of the Ukrainian forces who have claimed responsibility for incursions into Russian territory in recent days.
For further information Agenzia ANSA 114 million Russians voting in 11 time zones - News - Ansa.it Just over 114 million Russians are called to the polls from 15 to 17 March for the presidential elections, in which Vladimir Putin is showing up to get a fifth mandate.
(HANDLE)
Video Putin to citizens: 'Go and vote for your homeland'
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