Russians have started going to the polls to vote in a presidential election in which Vladimir Putin is expected to win again due to a lack of opposition.
The election comes as Ukraine, which has faced a Russian invasion for more than two years, has stepped up its attacks on Russia.
Polling stations opened at 8:00 a.m. local time this morning in the Kamchatka Peninsula and Chukotka, two remote regions located in the far east of Russia. And it will close on Sunday at 20:00 in Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave within the EU.
Polling stations opened at 6:00 a.m. CET across the country in 11 time zones.
Voting will last three days and will take place both in the territories occupied by Russia in Ukraine and in Transnistria, a pro-Russian separatist territory in Moldova.
Just before voting began, Vladimir Putin, who has been in power for 24 years, called on his compatriots to “not deviate from the path” and to vote “in a patriotic way in difficult times.”
