A woman casts her vote at a mobile ballot box during the Russian presidential election, in the basement of a destroyed apartment building in Avdiivka, in the Donetsk region of Russian-controlled Ukraine, on March 16.
Published March 16, 2024
For Kyiv and its international allies, the voting exercise is seen among other things as a further attempt by Russia to give the appearance of legitimacy to its control over the Ukrainian territory it holds.
“Ukrainian citizens should avoid participating in this farce in every way possible,” government minister Iryna Vereshchuk said – which meant no one should be helping to organize the polling, campaigning, voting, or acting as an observer of the elections, the government said in a statement.
“Do not engage in collaboration, do not help the occupiers to hold fake elections,” Vereshchuk added, warning that those who did so willingly were breaking Ukrainian law, though forced participation was not unlawful.
In-person voting has been underway since Friday, but Sunday is expected to see the largest number of polling stations open in Crimea as well as those parts of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk regions that are also under Russian occupation.
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SOURCE: www.cnn.com
RELATED: Russians Know Putin Will Be Re-Elected, but Many Worry What Comes Next
While there is little doubt about the vote’s out ome, there is concern that an emboldened President Putin may use a win to start a nee war mobilization
Published March 16, 2024
Maria and her husband, Aleksandr, are certain that President Vladimir V. Putin will secure a fifth term as Russia’s leader in the presidential election this weekend.
But the couple, who live in Moscow with their three children, are not so sure about what will follow. Foremost in their minds are fears that Mr. Putin, emboldened by winning a new six-year term, might declare another mobilization for soldiers to fight in Ukraine. Aleksandr, 38, who left Russia shortly after Mr. Putin announced the first mobilization in September 2022 but recently returned, is even considering leaving the country again, his wife said.
“I only hear about mobilization — that there is a planned offensive for the summer and that troops need rotation,” Maria, 34, said in a WhatsApp exchange. She declined to allow the couple’s family name to be used, fearing repercussions from the government.
Many Russians have been worrying about a multitude of issues before the vote, which started on Friday and takes place over three days. Though the Russian authorities have denied that another mobilization for the war is planned, a sense of unease persists.
The concerns appear to be grounded in the possibility that Mr. Putin will use his unfettered power to make changes he avoided before the vote. Denis Volkov, the director of the Levada Center, one of the few independent pollsters in Russia, said those anxieties were still felt mainly by the minority of Russians who oppose the government.
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SOURCE: www.nytimes.com
RELATED:EU president congratulates Putin on ‘landslide’ win … as Russian voting kicks off
“No opposition. No freedom. No choice,” blasted sarcastic Charles Michel.
Published March 16, 2024
A zinger from Charles Michel! Yes, really.
The European Council president congratulated Vladimir Putin on his big win in the Russian presidential election — just as three days of voting began Friday.
“Would like to congratulate Vladimir Putin on his landslide victory in the elections starting today,” blasted Michel, who is more renowned for diplomatic faux pas than social media snark. “No opposition. No freedom. No choice.”
Russians headed to the polls Friday for the first day of voting in a rigged election that Putin is almost certain to win, granting him another six years in power.
The Russian president, who spent years cracking down on any form of dissent against his rule, is expected to face off against three candidates who have voluntarily abstained from criticizing him. The only two significant anti-war opposition candidates, Ekaterina Duntsova and Boris Nadezhdin, have been disqualified.
Russia’s grassroots opposition has organized mass participation of voters at polling stations at noon on Sunday in a show of protest at Putin’s longtime reign over Russia.
Putin was first elected as Russian president in 2000 and — other than a break when he took on the role of prime minister between 2008 and 2012 — has held the top job ever since. In February 2022, he launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, upending Europe’s security landscape.
