AP PHOTOS: Russians vote in election dominated by Putin
Voters queue at a polling station at noon local time in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, March 17, 2024. The Russian opposition called on people to head to polling stations at noon on Sunday in protest as voting takes place on the last day of a presidential election that was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. AP can’t confirm that all the voters seen at the polling station at noon were taking part in the opposition protest. (AP Photo)
From the hush of isolated Siberian villages to the clamor of big cities to war battered towns in occupied parts of Ukraine, Russians voted in a presidential election overwhelmingly dominated by Vladimir Putin.
With ballots counted from about 30% of precincts on Sunday evening, Putin was clearly headed for victory, notching more than 85% of the vote, according to the national election commission.
A man is reflected in a mirror as he casts a ballot at a polling station during the presidential elections in St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, March 16, 2024. Voters in Russia headed to the polls for a presidential election that was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
Putin’s glide to another six-year term was never in doubt. The other three candidates on the ballot were all from Putin-friendly parties and the early results showed none of them gathering double-digit support. Under Putin, opposition forces in Russia are firmly suppressed; two politicians who oppose the war in Ukraine were denied slots on the ballot.
Despite the oppression, there were quiet signs of protest in Moscow and other cities, where long lines of voters formed at polling stations at midday, following a strategy devised by opposition stalwart Alexei Navalny shortly before his still-unexplained death in a prison in February. The action was aimed at showing showing authorities that sizable numbers of Russian oppose Putin, even though they had no genuine alternative to vote for and risk jail for overt protest.
Russian servicemen stand in line to vote at a polling station during a presidential election in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, March 15, 2024. Voters in Russia headed to the polls for a presidential election that was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
Opposition was more visible at Russian embassies where citizens living abroad could vote. Navalny’s widow Yulia voted at the embassy in Berlin, standing in line some five hours to do so, and told reporters that she wrote her late husband’s name on the ballot.
At a protest near the Berlin embassy, a protester held a sign showing a man’s face disfigured by stitches in the shape of a Z — the letter emblazoned on Russian military vehicles in Ukraine.
Putin, first elected in 2000, is the longest-serving Russian leader since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. His new term would allow the 71-year-old to stay in office until 2030 and he could run for one more term after that.
A member of an election commission waits for voters at a polling station during a presidential election in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, March 15, 2024. Voters in Russia headed to the polls for a presidential election that was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
A student of the Maritime State University named after admiral Gennady Nevelskoy leaves a voting booth at a polling station during a presidential election in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok, 6,418 km (3,566 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 15, 2024. Voters in Russia headed to the polls for a presidential election that was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo)
A woman fills in a ballot at a polling station during a presidential election in Russian-controlled Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, Friday, March 15, 2024. People in Moscow-controlled Ukrainian regions voted in Russia’s presidential election, which was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo)
A woman gets a ballot at a polling station during a presidential election in Mariupol, Russian-controlled Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Friday, March 15, 2024. People in Moscow-controlled Ukrainian regions voted in Russia’s presidential election, which was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo)
An election commission official inspects the passport of a person who came to vote at a polling station, during a presidential election in Makiivka, Russian-controlled Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Friday, March 15, 2024. People in Moscow-controlled Ukrainian regions voted in Russia’s presidential election, which was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo)
A woman holds her pet as she leaves a voting booth during a presidential election in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok, 6,416 km (3,987 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 17, 2024. Voters in Russia went to the polls for the last day of a presidential election that was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo)
An elderly woman casts a ballot during a presidential election via a mobile election committee, who visit people who cannot physically attend a polling station, in Nikolayevka village outside Siberian city of Omsk, 2,236 km (1,397 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, March 16, 2024. Voters in Russia headed to the polls for a presidential election that was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo)
Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Alexey Navalny, waves as she stands in a queue with other voters near the polling station at the Russian embassy in Berlin, after noon local time, on Sunday, March 17, 2024. The Russian opposition called on people to head to polling stations at noon on Sunday in protest as voting takes place on the last day of a presidential election that was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. AP can’t confirm that all the voters seen at the polling station at noon were taking part in the opposition protest. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A Russian Embassy security guard checks the passport of a Russian woman who queued at the Russian Embassy in Warsaw, Poland, Sunday, March 17, 2024 to cast her vote on the last day of the three-day presidential elections. Russians at home and abroad headed to the polls for a presidential election that was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
A woman wearing a shirt with a picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a Russian flag outside a polling station set up in a Russian school in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, March 17, 2024. Russians at home and abroad headed to the polls for a presidential election that was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
A person shows a poster with a face covered by a “Z”, which used as a symbol by Russian forces, during a protest near the polling station at the Russian embassy in Berlin, after noon local time, on Sunday, March 17, 2024. The Russian opposition called on people to head to polling stations at noon on Sunday in protest as voting takes place on the last day of a presidential election that was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. AP can’t confirm that all the voters seen at the polling station at noon were taking part in the opposition protest. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
People queue to vote, outside the Russian Embassy in Helsinki, Finland, Sunday March 17, 2024. Russians at home and abroad headed to the polls for a presidential election that was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. (Roni Rekomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)
A Russian serviceman leaves a voting booth at a polling station during a presidential election in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, March 15, 2024. Voters in Russia headed to the polls for a presidential election that was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
Vladislav Davankov, Russian State Duma member and presidential candidate from the New People Party, leaves a voting booth to cast his ballot at a polling station during a presidential election in Smolensk, Russia, Sunday, March 17, 2024. Voters in Russia went to the polls for the last day of a presidential election that was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo)
Leonid Slutsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) and candidate in the presidential election, and his mother Natalya thank journalists after voting during a presidential election in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 16, 2024. Voters in Russia headed to the polls for a presidential election that was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
A woman casts a ballot at a polling station during a presidential election in Simferopol, Crimea, Friday, March 15, 2024. People in Moscow-controlled Ukrainian regions voted in Russia’s presidential election, which wass all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo)
A woman poses with a frame with the words reading “I’ve have chosen the president” after voting at a polling station during a presidential election in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, on Friday, March 15, 2024. People in Moscow-controlled Ukrainian regions voted in Russia’s presidential election, which was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo)