At least eight people were arrested this Friday on the first day of the presidential election in Russia for damage to polling stations, according to the authorities, who did not specify whether these were protest actions against the re-election of Vladimir Putin. .
The Russian president, in power for almost a quarter of a century, is guaranteed to be reappointed at the head of the country, in the absence of any opposition.
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In Moscow, a woman was arrested after
“setting fire”
to a voting booth, the Ria Novosti news agency reported.
A video published by online media Baza shows large flames shooting out before the fire is extinguished.
Also in Moscow, a 20-year-old resident was arrested after spraying ballots placed in ballot boxes with a
“coloring liquid,”
the Russian Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The Ria Novosti news agency broadcast a video from a surveillance camera showing a woman approaching the transparent urn before emptying greenish dye into it and being immediately arrested.
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Crime punishable by 5 years in prison
According to the Russian Interior Ministry, an investigation was opened for
“obstruction of the exercise of electoral rights or the work of electoral commissions”
, a crime punishable according to the authorities by
“up to 5 years”
in prison.
In the regions of Voronezh (southwest), Rostov (southwest) and Karachay-Cherkessia in the Russian Caucasus, two women aged 58 and 66, as well as another whose age has not been revealed and a 62-year-old man, were also detained for pouring dye into ballot boxes, law enforcement reported in separate press releases.
Two other individuals were arrested separately in the country for trying to set fire to a ballot box with a Molotov cocktail and trying to light a firecracker in a polling station, according to Russian authorities.
After these multiple incidents, the NGO OVD-Info warned Russians on Friday against possible telephone scams, common in Russia, which would promise financial compensation to those who attack polling stations.
According to the President of the Electoral Commission, Ella Pamfilova, quoted by the TASS agency, all of the individuals arrested on Friday confessed to having acted
“for money”
.