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Russia elections: Protesters arrested on final day of vote set to give Vladimir Putin fifth term - BBC News Russia elections: Protesters arrested on final day of vote set to give Vladimir Putin fifth term - BBC News
(32 minutes later)
Vitaly Shevchenko The final day of a vote set to confirm Vladimir Putin in office is under way in Russia, occupied regions of Ukraine and at Russian embassies around the world.
BBC Monitoring Here is what has happened so far today:
Moscow has launched a wide-ranging campaign telling residents of occupied parts of Ukraine to vote in Russia's presidential election. Voting has been taking place across Russia’s 11 time zones. In the far east region of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka, voting finished hours ago
For the first time, the national vote is taking place over three days (15 - 17 March), but additional early voting has already begun in the occupied parts of four Ukrainian regions: Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk. With most outspoken critics in exile, jailed or dead, the re-election of the 71-year-old Russian president is seen as inevitable
One resident complained of pro-Russian collaborators with ballot boxes going from house to house looking for voters accompanied by armed soldiers. A “noon against Putin'' action - called by the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Yulia Navalnaya - saw people form long queues at some polling stations at midday
Vladimir Putin will certainly win another term of office, but a high turnout would help the Kremlin's efforts to legitimise his continued rule. Russian news agency Tass reported that the turnout hit 67.54%, which is slightly higher than the turnout of 67.5% for the last presidential election in 2018
It would also be used to justify Russia's invasion of Ukraine. More than 50 people were arrested across Russia on Sunday, the human rights monitoring group OVD-Info reported
Vladimir Putin is one of four candidates on the ballot, but none of the others poses a realistic challenge. Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry said they have destroyed dozens of drones in several regions across the country, blaming Ukraine
All of his most outspoken critics have either been forced into exile, jailed, or have died.
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