Russians Voting To Elect New President
Voting has begun in Russia’s presidential election, which is all but certain to hand Vladimir Putin, another six years in power.
Joining Russia’s leader on the ballot will be Nikolai Kharitonov, representing the communist party, which remains Russia’s second most popular party, more than 30 years since the fall of the Soviet Union.
The other two candidates are Leonid Slutsky of the nationalist LDPR and Vladislav Davankov of the new people, ostensibly a liberal, pro-business party.
Despite their vastly different political standings, all three broadly back the kremlin’s policies and none stands a chance against the incumbent.
Another hopeful local Moscow Councillor Boris Nadezhdin announced his candidacy last year, generating a rare moment of optimism for opposition-minded voters.
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In Yakutsk, an eastern Siberian city where the temperature was minus 18 degrees Celsius, the descendent of a Yukaghir shaman asked spirits to bring good luck to the winner of the election during a ceremony at one polling station.
In other Russian cities, one woman dressed up as Barbie and another came to a polling station dressed in a tiger outfit.
But the shadow of the Ukraine war hangs over the election: Russia has more than 1 million men in arms and several hundred thousand fighting a grinding artillery and drone war along the 1,000 km (600 mile) front line in Ukraine.
Three children were killed by Ukrainian shelling of the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk, the mayor said. Another was killed in the Russian region of Belgorod – a reminder of the toll of the war.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, who direct Russia’s war effort, voted in Russia’s southern military district.
