Russia claimed it was targeted by a swarm of Ukrainian drones on Sunday, as people flocked to the polls for the final day of voting to extend President Vladimir Putin’s authority.
Queues of people were also observed developing outside polling booths in Moscow and Saint Petersburg around noon, when Russia’s opposition urged citizens to jointly spoil ballots or vote against Putin.
The three-day vote had already been marred by an increase in lethal Ukrainian bombing, pro-Kyiv incursions into Russian territory, and destruction at polling places.
Ukrainian drones attacked at least eight Russian districts overnight and Sunday morning, with some flying as far as Moscow, according to the defense ministry.
Following the barrage, three airports serving the city temporarily ceased operations, while a drone attack in the south caused a fire at an oil refinery.
According to Moscow-installed officials, “kamikaze drones” set fire to a polling center in the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia area of Ukraine, where voting is also taking place.
The military ministry stated that it had “intercepted and destroyed 35 unmanned aerial vehicles” throughout the country.
Last ‘legal’ protest
There were repeated acts of protest in the first days of polling, with a spate of arrests of Russians accused of pouring dye into ballot boxes or arson attacks.
Before his death in an Arctic prison last month, opposition leader Alexei Navalny urged Russians to collectively vote at noon in a protest the opposition dubbed “Midday Against Putin”.
AFP reporters saw an increase in people queuing outside polling stations at midday (0900 GMT) in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
“This is the last kind of protest action through which you can legally express yourself. It’s safe,” 29-year-old IT worker Alexander told AFP.
He voted around noon at a polling station in Maryino, a district of Moscow where Navalny used to cast his ballot.
“If I didn’t do it, I’d feel like a coward,” he said.
Elena, 52, who also voted around noon, doubted the demonstration would have much of an impact.
“Honestly, I don’t think it will show anything,” she told AFP.
Any public dissent in Russia has been harshly punished since the start of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 and there have been repeated warnings from the authorities against election protests.
‘Difficult period’
Putin, 71, a former KGB operative, has been in power since December 31, 1999, and is expected to maintain control of the country until at least 2030.
If he completes another Kremlin term, he will be the longest-serving Russian leader since Catherine the Great in the 18th century.
He has no serious opponents, as two candidates opposed to the situation in Ukraine have been prevented from competing.
The Kremlin has framed the election as an opportunity for Russians to demonstrate their support for the war on Ukraine, where voting is also taking place in Russian-controlled areas.
Putin claimed Russia was going through a “difficult period” in a pre-election speech on Thursday.
“We need to continue to be united and self-confident,” he said, describing the election as a means for Russians to express their “patriotic feelings”.
The voting will end at 1800 GMT in Kaliningrad, Russia’s westernmost time zone, with an exit poll likely shortly after.
On Monday, a concert will be held on Red Square to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Russia’s takeover of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, with the event also serving as a victory party for Putin.
‘No validity’
Ukraine has consistently condemned the polls as fraudulent and a “farce,” urging Western allies not to acknowledge the outcome.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, together with more than 50 member states, have condemned Moscow for holding the poll in regions of Ukraine.
Guterres stated that the “attempted illegal annexation” of those regions had “no validity” under international law.
Ahead of the election, Russian state media emphasized recent victories on the front and presented the conflict as a struggle for survival against Western attacks.
Moscow has also sought to press its advantage on the front lines, as differences over Western military support for Ukraine have resulted in ammunition shortages, while Kyiv claims it has temporarily halted the Russian advance.
On Friday, a Russian missile assault on the Black Sea port city of Odesa killed 21 people, including rescue workers reacting to an earlier hit – an attack that President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned as “vile”.
A 16-year-old girl and her father were murdered and wounded by Ukrainian fire in Belgorod, Russia’s border city, the region’s governor said Sunday.
The governor has ordered the closure of retail malls and schools in Belgorod and the surrounding area for two days due to the strikes.