As of: March 16, 2024, 6:32 a.m
By: Daniel Dillmann
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Press
Split
In Russia, voting takes place for three full days.
The winner is clear.
But on the first day of voting, Vladimir Putin will be confronted with problems.
The news ticker.
Attacks
on
the border region
on
election day
: Belgorod under attack during the Russian election
Presidential election
begins: 112 million people in Russia called to the polls
Russia
elects
president
: incumbent Vladimir Putin demands a clear result and high voter turnout
Update from March 16, 6:30 a.m.:
Russia is entering the second day of the presidential election today.
Although the opposition is barred from the election, Russian authorities are nervously monitoring how two years of Ukraine war and domestic repression will affect approval ratings for Vladimir Putin.
Update from March 15, 10:05 p.m.:
Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin has described the new attacks from the Ukrainian side on the Russian border region of Belgorod on the first day of the presidential election as a senseless attempt to disrupt.
“I am convinced that our people, the people of Russia, will respond to this with even greater solidarity,” Putin said on Friday during a video link with representatives of the National Security Council.
The people in the multi-ethnic state would not allow themselves to be intimidated, said the president.
He wants to be confirmed in office for the fifth time in the vote scheduled for Sunday.
The 71-year-old voted online from his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo near Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin during an interview on March 12, 2024. © Gavriil Grigorov/Imago
Numerous civilians were injured in the attacks against the Russian border region of Belgorod and also against the Kursk region that have been ongoing for several days.
Putin announced help for the victims of the attacks.
Ukraine deployed more than 2,500 fighters for the terrorist acts of sabotage, with losses around 60 percent, Putin said.
In addition, 35 tanks and around 40 armored military vehicles were deployed.
With these attacks, Ukraine is once again trying to distract from the defeats in its own country.
Putin's results in the previous Russian elections with him as a candidate
Year |
Result |
|---|---|
2000 |
52.9% |
2004 |
71.3% |
2012 |
64.4% |
2018 |
76.7% |
Election in Russia: Putin casts his vote and waves at the camera
Update from March 15, 9:35 p.m.:
Russian President Vladimir Putin cast his vote online on the first day of the presidential election in his country.
Footage distributed by the Kremlin showed the longtime Russian leader walking to a desk and sitting at a computer against a backdrop of two Russian flags, before the message "Thank you, you voted successfully" appeared on the screen.
The Kremlin chief then waves at the camera.
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Update from March 15, 7:25 p.m.:
UN Secretary General António Guterres has criticized the votes for the Russian presidential election in the areas of Ukraine occupied in violation of international law.
Guterres reminds us that the attempt to illegally annex these regions of Ukraine is not valid under international law, his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said on Friday in New York.
“The United Nations remains steadfastly committed to Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.”
Elections have begun in Russia: Putin is already receiving “congratulations”
Update from March 15, 5 p.m.:
The presidential elections in Russia are ongoing.
Because the winner of this much-criticized vote has basically been determined, EU Council President Charles Michel sent ironic congratulations to Moscow as a precaution.
“I would like to congratulate Vladimir Putin on his landslide victory in the elections starting today,” Michel mocked on the X (formerly Twitter) platform.
“No opposition.
No freedom.
No choice,” he added.
And Russia's power apparatus itself isn't making too much effort to maintain the illusion of an exciting election: preparations for Putin's big victory celebration this Monday have been underway on Red Square for days.
Protests against Putin's sham election also in Germany
Update from March 15th, 3:30 p.m.:
There are also apparently protests by exiled Russians in Germany against Putin and the election in Russia.
Supporters of the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny have called for a “lunch against Putin” in Berlin, among others.
The “FreeNavalny” alliance told IPPEN.MEDIA
that they plan to appear at polling stations with flash mobs and disrupt the voting process
.
Update from March 15th, 2:15 p.m.:
Acts of sabotage against the Russian election have been reported from many Russian regions.
The independent Russian media outlet
SOTA
published a video on Telegram that appears to show a woman setting a fire at a polling station in Saint Petersburg.
Additional footage appears to show people pouring green paint into ballot boxes.
The authorities confirmed further incidents
to the
Moscow Times .
Online voting system in Russia briefly collapses
Update from March 15, 1:25 p.m.:
Vladimir Putin's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has cast his vote in the election in Russia.
This was reported by the state news agency
Tass
from Moscow.
Update from March 15, 11:45 a.m.:
In addition to a victory, President Vladimir Putin is important to a high voter turnout in the election in Russia.
For this purpose, an online voting system was set up across the country.
But that's exactly what's causing problems now.
The platform reportedly briefly collapsed on Friday due to overload.
This was due to “an unprecedented number of people who wanted to vote online,” the operators said, according to a report in the
Moscow Times
.
Belgorod border region under fire on the first day of elections in Russia
Update from March 15, 10:02 a.m.:
The border region of Belgorod came under fire from Ukraine on the first day of the Russian election.
This was announced by the Russian state news agency
Ria Novosti
.
Seven rockets were fired.
Many people would have had to leave the polling stations.
According to
Tass
, all polling stations in Russia are now open.
Update from March 15, 8:35 a.m.:
Security authorities in Moscow announced a tough crackdown on any protest at the start of the election in Russia.
This is reported by the
Moscow Times
news portal and refers directly to the capital's public prosecutor's office.
It announced in a statement that all participants in “unauthorized mass events” surrounding the three-day presidential election would face immediate arrest.
“Neither free nor fair” - West speaks of vote manipulation in Russia election
Update from March 15, 7:50 a.m.:
Western foreign policy experts have described the elections in Russia as “neither free nor fair.”
This emerges from a letter signed by the chairmen of the foreign committees from more than 20 countries and quoted from the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
.
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.
Election in Russia begins: 112 million people called to the polls
First report from March 14, 2024:
Moscow - 112 million eligible voters in an election that lasts three days and spans eleven time zones.
The Russia election is one of the biggest ballots of 2024, but the winner has long been determined.
President Vladimir Putin is heading for his fifth term in office.
The 71-year-old politician, who has held various positions at the helm of Russia since 2000, has long since silenced the opposition.
Real opposing candidates are not allowed in the Russia election.
So it's hardly surprising that Vladimir Putin is dominating the polls for the Russian election.
The only thing that remains unclear is the outcome with which the president will be confirmed in office.
Two other factors are likely to become much more important for the Kremlin.
Can the president announce a new record result after the election?
In his first victory in 2000, Putin only received 52.9 percent of the total vote.
In the last Russian election it was 76.7 percent.
This time the result should be north of 80 percent.
The other important factor for Vladimir Putin in the Russian election is voter turnout.
The president is trying by all means possible to drive this up.
A high level of participation is intended to preserve the appearance of democratic structures and to consolidate Putin's sole claim to leadership in the middle of the Ukraine war.
The highest voter turnout since the 2000s was in the election in which it was not Putin who was running, but rather his confidant Dmitri Medvedev: In 2008, 69.7 percent of all those eligible took part in the election.
Putin achieved his best result in this statistic in his first election in 2000, when 68.6 percent went to the polls.
Overview of voter turnout in Russian elections
Year |
Result |
2000 |
68.6% |
2004 |
64.3% |
2008 |
69.7% |
2012 |
65.3% |
2018 |
67.5% |
Due to numerous repressions against any opposition, little resistance or protest against the Russian election is to be expected.
However, neither is completely ruled out.
Particularly in the country's western metropolises such as Moscow and Saint Petersburg, individual actions could disrupt the election process.
Navalnaya calls for protests against Putin in the Russian election
Julija Navalnaya, among others, called for protests against Putin's election.
The widow of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who recently died in a prison camp, called on people in Russia to all go to the polling station on the same day and at the same time.
This could overload the polling stations and send a signal of democratic resistance in an undemocratic election.
Navalnaya titled the call “Lunch against Putin”.
How many people will ultimately dare to express criticism of Putin in the context of the Russia election remains to be seen.
In recent years, the power apparatus in the Kremlin has pushed forward the country's transformation into an authoritarian state.
Criticism of Putin or the war in Ukraine is punishable by prison.
Nevertheless, despite warnings from the authorities, thousands of people attended Navalny's funeral and used the funeral to silently protest against Putin.
The president himself spoke on Thursday (March 14), one day before the start of the Russia election.
“Let me say clearly that taking part in the elections today is a demonstration of patriotism,” Putin said
on Russian state TV , according to a report by
AFP .
Russia election also takes place in occupied parts of Ukraine
The presidential election begins on Friday (March 15) but not only in Russia.
People in the occupied territories of Ukraine should also confirm Vladimir Putin in office.
Around 4.5 million people are called to vote there.
In addition, around two million people abroad can take part in the Russian election.
The polling stations close on Sunday at 7 p.m. German time.
A result is announced in the hours afterwards.
(dil)