An election without suspense.
The presidential election began in Russia this Friday March 15.
Russians will go to the polls for three days to choose their new president, including in the territories occupied by Russia in Ukraine and in Transdniestria, a pro-Russian separatist territory in Moldova.
Unsurprisingly, Vladimir Putin is widely expected to be re-elected.
“Elections in Russia will not be free and fair.
We already know that opposition politicians are in prison, some have been killed and many are in exile,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on the eve of the vote.
The outgoing president faces three candidates without scope who oppose neither the offensive in Ukraine nor the repression which has eradicated all opposition, culminating with the death in prison in mid-February of Kremlin critic Alexeï Navalny.
The only opponent to have attempted to run, Boris Nadejdine, saw his candidacy rejected.
Also read: Candidates, voters, calendar… How the Russian presidential election is going
Aged 71, head of state has been in power for 24 years.
Shortly before the start of the vote, he urged his compatriots not to “deviate from the path” in these “difficult” times, referring to the consequences of the assault he launched against Ukraine more than two years and which he presents as a war of survival against the West.