As of: March 15, 2024, 8:49 a.m
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The election is intended to ensure Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin will remain in office for another six years.
© Mikhail Metzel/Kremlin Pool/Sputnik via AP/dpa
In the middle of the war, Kremlin leader Putin wants to secure his power.
The three-day presidential election is considered neither free nor fair.
Ukraine is also protesting against the elections in its regions.
Moscow - A controversial presidential election for Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to retain power has begun in Russia with the exclusion of the opposition.
In the largest country in the world in terms of area, polling stations opened on Friday first in the far east, for example on the Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula.
The election, which is intended to ensure that the 71-year-old Putin remains in office for another six years, is overshadowed by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and massive allegations of manipulation.
Voting in the vast empire with its eleven time zones lasts until Sunday evening, when the last polling stations in Kaliningrad (formerly Königsberg) on the Baltic Sea close at 7 p.m. CET.
The first forecasts are expected immediately afterwards.
Russian state pollsters have already predicted more than 80 percent of the vote for Putin, who has been in power for nearly a quarter century and is seeking a fifth term.
That would be the highest result for him ever.
No OSCE election observers
Putin's three competitors are not only seen as having no chance.
They are also all in line with the Kremlin and sometimes directly support the incumbent.
Applicants who spoke out against Putin's war of aggression were not even accepted as candidates.
The opposition speaks of an “election farce” that has nothing in common with a vote according to democratic rules.
Election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are not invited this time.
Even before the vote, there were numerous allegations of organized voter fraud.
According to independent observers, not only are public servants and employees of large companies being pushed to the polls in large numbers in order to increase voter turnout.
The Kremlin also organized illegal sham votes in occupied areas of Ukraine over the three days.
Kyiv: elections illegitimate
Ukraine protests against the votes held in violation of international law and calls on the international community not to recognize the results.
It was said in Kiev that the elections were illegitimate and had no legal consequences.
They would also give reason not to recognize Putin as president.
The Supreme Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, also called for increasing sanctions pressure on Russia.
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The Foreign Ministry in Kiev accused Russia of violating the territorial integrity of Ukraine in violation of international law.
The ministry called on people in the occupied territories not to take part in the “pseudo-elections”.
“Russia’s dictatorship has long since had nothing to do with democracy,” it said in a statement.
Rather, Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague with an arrest warrant on suspicion of having committed serious war crimes in Ukraine.
He has been in power for more than 24 years through manipulation, propaganda and violence, including assassinations of independent politicians.
According to Russian figures, 4.5 million people are called to vote in the occupied parts of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson.
Voting will also take place on the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
Russia puts the number of eligible voters living in other countries at around two million.
According to the Electoral Commission, around 114 million people have been called upon to vote.
The Kremlin is hoping for a high voter turnout.
In 2020, Putin had the constitution changed specifically in order to be able to run as a candidate again.
According to the current constitution, he is allowed to run again in 2030, but then for the last time.
Russian border region Belgorod reports new shelling
According to official information, the border region of Belgorod has come under fire again.
According to initial findings, two people were injured, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, seven Ukrainian missiles were fired over Belgorod.
This could not initially be independently verified.
The Russian state news agency Ria Novosti reported that people had to leave the polling stations and seek refuge in shelters.
Moscow blames neighboring Ukraine, against which Putin has been waging a brutal war of aggression for more than two years, for the shelling.
In fact, paramilitary organizations often appear to be behind the attacks. Although they fight on the Ukrainian side, they consist primarily of Russian nationalists.
The associations, which have names such as the “Russian Volunteer Corps”, have said they have fought battles with the Russian army in the border area in recent days and have now announced further attacks on social media.
Leading foreign politicians against recognition of the election
According to a report in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, leading Western foreign policymakers have spoken out against recognizing the presidential election in the occupied territories.
Accordingly, the chairmen of foreign committees from more than 20 countries wrote: “Such actions by Russia on the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine are completely unlawful and are not recognized by the international community.”
The statement was initiated by the chairmen of the foreign committees in the Baltic states and by Michael Roth (SPD), the chairman of the corresponding committee in the Bundestag.
According to the newspaper, it underlines the need for political, economic, financial and military support for Ukraine from the EU, its members and allies.
“The upcoming presidential elections in Russia will be neither free nor fair and will be marred by a comprehensive crackdown on the opposition and the independent media,” the paper continued, quoting the paper.
The result will not have “the slightest semblance of democratic validity”.
The opposition around Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, who died in a prison camp in mid-February, called for a protest election against Putin.
Voters should, for example, invalidate the ballot papers by ticking several candidates at the same time.
The protest voters should also show up at the polling stations on Sunday at 12 p.m. to show that they are against Putin.
dpa