Putin should be (re)elected today. What has happened? Who is ‘voting’?

O The result of the presidential elections in Russia should be known this Sunday, after the doors to voters were opened across the country on Friday.

According to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), in-person participation in the elections has already exceeded 61%, at a time when there are just over ten hours left until the last voting centers close.

But if the war in Ukraine is, two years after it began, at a ‘stalemate’ in terms of territorial controls, the Russian presidency is a battle that Vladimir Putin has already ‘won’ before the votes are counted – and therefore It has also been the target of criticism.

It’s because?

The European Parliament describes this electoral act – which includes the six million people living in the territories temporarily occupied by Russia – as “a carefully staged legitimization ritual for the reappointment of Vladimir Putin for a fifth term”. Brussels made this consideration even before the elections began.

But with the ballot boxes already receiving votes, Vladimir Putin was once again criticized by Europe, starting with the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, who ironically congratulated Putin. “I would like to congratulate Vladimir Putin on his landslide victory in the elections that begin today. There is no opposition, there is no freedom, there is no choice”wrote the person responsible on the social network X (formerly Twitter), on Friday.

Putin has been in power for 25 years, since 1999, as president or prime minister, and is now preparing to serve his fifth term, potentially remaining as president until 2036. This is because, in 2020, Putin presented a law – which was approved – to change the Russian Constitution and, thus, he was able to run for two new consecutive terms.

Putin has a voting intention of over 80%, according to official polls, and could achieve his biggest electoral victory since coming to power in 2000. If Putin’s re-election is confirmed – and he completes it until the end, Putin will surpass time government of Joseph Stalin, who was at the head of the Soviet Union for almost 29 years, between 1924 and 1953.

What marked these three days?

The ‘possible’ protests

The elections take place roughly a month after the main opponent of the regime, Alexei Navalny, died. In recent weeks, Navalny’s wife left an appeal to voters to show their discontent with this government when voting, by voting invalid or even writing her husband’s name on the ballots.

Several contempts were being recorded in some parts of the country, with authorities making arrests. Among the records, there were ballot boxes that caught fire and protests in which green paint was used – to represent a chemical with which Navalny had already been attacked.

And attacks ‘off’ the battlefield?

On Saturday, Russian authorities reported that their electoral infrastructure was the target of around 90,000 computer attacks on Friday alone, the first day of voting for the presidential elections, which ends on Sunday.

The statements by Russian authorities come hours after the Ukrinform agency reported that Ukrainian cyber experts attacked the Russian system used for electronic voting in the presidential elections. Citing sources from Ukraine’s military intelligence services (GUR), the agency said that the hackers had bypassed “all Russian protection systems”, with attacks expected until the end of the vote.

The head of Russia’s CEC, Ela Pamfílova, said on Saturday that at least 10,500 attacks against the voting system had already been blocked since voting began.

Who voted with Putin?

Nikolai Kharitonov

Nikolai Kharitonov, 75, a member of the lower house of the Russian parliament, the Duma, is the official candidate of the Communist Party. According to the Reuters news agency, the party’s candidates came in second place in every election since 2000, but with a long distance from Putin.

Kharitonov was already a candidate in 2004, when he received 13.8% of the vote, against Putin’s 71.91%.

Leonid Slutski

Aged 56, he is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia and began his career in politics as head of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation, and later became an advisor to the mayor of Moscow.

Three years ago, the editor-in-chief of the RTVI television channel, Ekaterina Kotrikadze, the producer of the Dozhd TV channel, Daria Zhuk, and the journalist of the BBC Russian service, Farida Rustamova, accused Slutsky of sexual harassment. The politician considered the accusations “absurd”, part of a “personalized campaign”.

Some experts believe that Slutski could come second in the elections, an opinion corroborated by the Russian information website Meduza, published in Riga.

Vladislav Davankov

From the Gente Nova party, 40 years old, originally from the city of Smolensk. He has degrees from Moscow University and the Social University. He entered politics in 2020, when he participated in the founding of the party he belongs to, and has not yet referred to the war in Ukraine.

Davankov advanced a bill last year banning the use of “offensive” toponyms, having co-authored laws banning transgender transition and the exhibition of animals in circuses.

In the elections for the Moscow municipality, in 2023, he came in fourth place. Currently, it does not have an electoral program.

Read Also: Crimea maintains decisive “political value” for Putin 10 years after annexation

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