MOSCOW (Reuters) – Several violent incidents, including deadly bombings in areas under Russian control in Ukraine, marked the first day of the Russian presidential election on Friday, which should give Vladimir Putin a fifth term.
Three children were killed by Ukrainian strikes on Donetsk, a city in eastern Ukraine controlled by Russia, the mayor said. Another child was killed in the Russian border region of Belgorod – an attack designed, the Kremlin says, to destabilize the electoral process.
Residents of what Moscow calls its “new territories”, the four regions of Ukraine partially controlled by Russian forces and which Russia claims as its own, are also called to the polls.
Kyiv says holding elections in these regions is illegal and the result will be null and void.
Read also…
The electoral commission of the Ukrainian region of Kherson, controlled by Moscow, accused Kyiv on Friday of having bombed polling stations in the localities of Kakhovka and Brylivka, in a statement published on Telegram.
The commission added that several people were injured and buildings were damaged.
Reuters could not confirm this information from an independent source.
Ella Pamfilova, president of the electoral commission, also reported a major cyberattack against the video surveillance system of polling stations in the Tyumen region, in Siberia, according to the TASS news agency.
A Molotov cocktail was thrown at a polling station in Saint Petersburg, according to local media Fontanka.
“PUTIN HAS NO COMPETITOR”
The presidential election lasts three days, until March 17.
At 71, Vladimir Putin, who faces a sham opposition, should be re-elected for six years, while Russia has been at war with Ukraine since 2022.
The head of state is running against the communist Nikolai Kharitonov, Leonid Sloutsky, leader of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, and Vladislav Davankov, of the New People’s party.
Accused by the West of maintaining an authoritarian regime, Vladimir Putin enjoys a high level of trust in Russia. According to the Levada Center, a respected Russian polling institute, it is currently 86%, compared to 71% shortly before the invasion of Ukraine.
“Putin has no competitors, he is on a completely different level. The West made a very serious mistake in helping to unify a large part of the Russian elite and population around Putin with its sanctions and his denigration of Russia,” commented a Russian source familiar with the functioning of the Kremlin.
Questioned at one of Russia’s largest wholesale markets in the south of Moscow, Lyoudmila Petrova, 46, showed fervent support for the master of the Kremlin.
“I support Putin and, of course, I will vote for him,” she said.
“Putin raised Russia from its knees. And Russia will defeat the West and Ukraine. You cannot defeat Russia, ever,” she added.
ALSO READ:
BOX-Russians elect their president from March 15 to 17
ANALYSIS-Putin supports Russian economy with war effort after ‘lost decade’
REPORT-Putin Generation: young Russians look back on nearly 25 years of “reign”
(Report by Guy Faulconbridge, French version by Kate Entringer, edited by Tangi Salaün)
©2024 Thomson Reuters, all rights reserved. Reuters content is the intellectual property of Thomson Reuters or its third party content providers. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. “Reuters” and the Reuters Logo are trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies.