Highlights: In the middle of the presidential election, Vladimir Putin promises a response to attacks on Russian soil. At least thirteen people were arrested for damage to polling stations. In occupied Ukraine, a bomb exploded without causing casualties outside a polling station in the southern region of Kherson. The Moscow prosecutor's office warned Thursday against any protests, as no criticism or opposition is tolerated in Russia. The Russian army also said it had repelled multiple land incursions by fighters from Ukraine since March 12, admitting having had to resort to artillery and aviation.

The start of the Russian presidential election, destined to triumphantly re-elect Vladimir Putin, was disrupted this Friday March 15 by isolated protest actions and new attacks from…

In the middle of the presidential election, Vladimir Putin promises a response to attacks on Russian soil

The start of the Russian presidential election, destined to triumphantly re-elect Vladimir Putin, was disrupted this Friday March 15 by isolated protest actions and new attacks from Ukraine in the border regions.

Vladimir Putin promised that Russia would respond to these attacks.

At least thirteen people were arrested for damage to polling stations, the precise motives of which have not been made public.

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised this Friday March 15 that Russia would respond to Ukrainian air attacks on its soil.

AFP - MIKHAIL METZEL

By: RFI with AFP

Vladimir Putin, who voted online this Friday, on the first day of the vote to re-elect him, assured that Ukrainian strikes against Russian territory, which have increased in recent days, would not go “unpunished

”

For the Russian president, all this is put in place in order to disrupt the voting process and “

to intimidate the population, in any case at least in the border areas

”

“

The neo-Nazi regime in Kiev has conceived and is attempting to carry out a certain number of armed, criminal and demonstrative actions,”

he continues

.
First of all, it involves hitting residential areas on Russian territory.
(...) These enemy strikes do not and will not go unpunished

,” declared Vladimir Putin.

In occupied Ukraine, a bomb exploded without causing casualties outside a polling station in the southern region of Kherson, and Ukrainian forces shelled two local election commissions, according to occupation authorities.

The Moscow prosecutor's office warned Thursday against any protests, as no criticism or opposition is tolerated in Russia.

At the same time, at least 16 people were killed and around 60 injured in one of the worst Russian missile attacks on Odessa, the major port city in southern Ukraine already targeted twice in recent days .

Also this Friday, the Russian army also said it had repelled multiple land incursions by fighters from Ukraine since March 12, admitting having had to resort to artillery and aviation.

Also read: Denunciations, two years that changed Russia

Elections without independent observer

Never has a presidential election in Russia been so politically and technically locked.

No more cameras broadcasting the voting procedure live on the electoral commission website.

For Pavel Burlakov, spokesperson for Boris Nadezhdine, this casts an obvious shadow over the reliability of the vote.

“

We believe that the election results in many, many constituencies could be rigged.
Many additional factors point to this, considering that the last presidential election was already largely rigged.
And after that, the Russian Parliament, the State Duma, had passed even more laws that allow cheating in elections.

Pavel Burlakov explains, for example, that there is not a single independent observer in the vast majority of polling stations in Russia. “

It is not difficult to guess how the count will take place in such conditions.
We fear the extent of the falsification, so we hope that our exit polls will provide more complete information about what happened in these elections and how people voted

A handful of thousands of volunteers, some already threatened, will still try again this Saturday March 16 to ask this question: “

And if the candidate Boris Nadejdine had been authorized to compete, would you have voted for him?

» Excluded from the final stage of the competition, the only openly anti-war candidate had, at that time, exceeded double-digit voting intentions in the polls.

With this election, Vladimir Putin will remain in power until 2030 and will be able to run again to remain in charge until 2036, the year he turns 84.

Read alsoPresidential election in Russia: “The fact that it takes place in three days allows the result to be manipulated”

In the middle of the presidential election, Vladimir Putin promises a response to attacks on Russian soil

In the middle of the presidential election, Vladimir Putin promises a response to attacks on Russian soil

Elections without independent observer

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