Voting Underway In Russia For Three-Day Presidential Elections

Voting is taking place in Russia for the three-day presidential elections. The polling began on Friday (15th March 2024) morning from the country’s easternmost regions, Chukotka and Kamchatka and it will close at 11:30 PM Indian Time on Sunday in Kaliningrad — a Russian exclave bordering Poland and Lithuania. People across Russia are voting to elect their President for the next six years. The candidates who are contesting for the top state post in the election are Russia’s incumbent President Vladimir Putin, New People’s Party’s Vladislav Davankov, LDPR party’s Leonid Slutsky and Communist Party of Russia’s Nikolay Kharitonov. The Kremlin says, Mr Putin, is set to win because he commands support across society for rescuing Russia from post-Soviet chaos and standing up to the West. This is the first time Russia is using an option to vote online. The option is available in 27 Russian regions and Crimea, Donbass and Novorossia which Moscow annexed from Ukraine.