Russians on Friday cast their ballots at various polling stations across the country in the March 15-17 presidential election set to prolong President Vladimir Putin’s rule by six more years a longer spell in power than any Russian leader since Catherine the Great in the 18th century.
The Kremlin says the vote will show that the country is fully behind its assault on Ukraine and polling stations have been set up in Russian-held territories.
President Putin called on Russians to use the vote to show their unity behind his leadership.
“We have already shown that we can be together, defending the freedom, sovereignty and security of Russia,” he said in a video message, flanked by flags of the Russian tricolor and the president’s state insignia.
“Today it is critically important not to stray from this path,” he said.
Early voting was already underway in occupied territories of Ukraine. The vote will also take place in Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.
In the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Mariupol, election officials on Thursday opened pop-up polling stations at small tables in the street and on the hoods of cars.
Banners were unfurled sporting a red, white and blue “V” logo — an army symbol used as a sign of support for the military offensive.
Kyiv has this week launched some of its most significant aerial attacks since the start of the two-year conflict.
The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said that at least three separate waves of aerial attacks had killed two people, wounding several others.
He accused Ukraine of trying to “sow panic, distrust, anger and resentment, in order to break the unit of our society.”
