2024-03-17 08:05:04
While no credible opposition still has a voice in Russia, this third day of elections should mark the re-election of Vladimir Putin.
Russians vote on Sunday for third and final day of a tailor-made vote intended to triumphantly re-elect Vladimir Putine, the opposition having been eradicated and the Kremlin presenting national unity as a patriotic duty, in full assault against Ukraine.
Critics of the Russian president, at the helm of the country for 24 years, will nevertheless try to make themselves heard, despite warnings from the authorities, by calling on their supporters to come and vote en masse at midday.
Initial estimates and the results of a survey by a state institute, Vtsiom, should be known shortly after the closing of the last polling stations at 7:00 p.m. GMT in the Kaliningrad enclave.
Certain outcome
The outcome of the vote, in which Vladimir Putin, 71, faces three hand-picked candidates without stature, there is no doubt. The opposition has been decimated by years of repression which has further accelerated with the conflict in Ukraine, the backdrop to these elections.
The outgoing head of state, Vladimir Putin, faces three candidates without stature who oppose neither the offensive in Ukraine, nor the repression which eradicated all opposition and culminated with the death in prison in mid-February of the main opponent, Alexeï Navalny. The only opponent to have attempted to run, Boris Nadejdine, saw his candidacy rejected.
Deadly Strikes
The entire week was marked by deadly strikes and attempted armed incursions from Ukraine into Russian territory.
Sunday, a sixteen-year-old girl was killed in the city of Belgorodclose to the border and very often targeted, when a strike caused the house where she was staying to burn down, said Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
A drone attack blamed on Ukraine also caused therefinery fire in southern Russiawith regional authorities reporting one death after a heart attack.
“We must confirm our unity and determination to move forward”
Vladimir Putin swore revenge on Friday, while these attacks come in response to the daily bombing of Ukraine by Russia since February 24, 2022.
The master of the Kremlin, who can count on very real popularity, sees the election as a demonstration of unity of the Russians behind him.
“We must confirm our unity and determination to move forward,” he insisted on Thursday, deeming it “critical not to turn away from the path”, the country being, in his mind, the target of a war hatched by the West.
The opposition at noon
If the opponents have no chance of influencing the vote, they nevertheless want to show that they existas during Navalny’s funeral when crowds paid tribute to him in Moscow.
Yulia Navalnaïa, who promised despite her exile to take up the torch from her late husband, called on her supporters to go to the polls at the same time, at noon on Sunday (09:00 GMT), and give their vote to any candidate other than Putin.
The first days of voting went off without a hitch, apart from a few isolated incidents: paint poured into ballot boxes, attempted fires, etc. But the precise reasons for these acts were not revealed. Several of their perpetrators were imprisoned.
Incursions et drones
Regarding Ukraine, while the conflict has probably cost the lives of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, Moscow strives to triumphantly present recent conquestsalthough its importance is limited, and to emphasize that Russia is gambling for its survival against the West.
All week, the Russian army also said it was repelling attempted armed incursions from neighboring Ukraine in the Belgorod and Kursk regions, assaults claimed by anti-Putin units claiming to be composed of Russians.
Again on Saturday, one of these groups, “Russia’s Freedom Legion”, called on civilians to evacuate the city of Belgorod: “you do not have to be Putin’s human shields”.
Several people have died in these regions in recent days in addition to drone, rocket and artillery attacks, even if Russian anti-aircraft defense seems able to shoot down most of the projectiles.
The Russian army said on Sunday it had destroyed 35 Ukrainian drones overnight flying over several regions of Russia, including Moscow, a particularly high figure.
An official of the occupation in southern Ukraine, Vladimir Rogov, also accused the Kiev army of attacking a polling station in the Zaporizhia region using drones, causing a fire but not causing no casualties.
Moscow, for its part, continues its bombing of Ukraine. A strike killed 21 people in Odessa on Friday.
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