The final leg of presidential voting in Russia began on Sunday with Moscow accusing Kyiv of using air attacks to try to sabotage the elections which is expected to keep Putin in power for the next six years.
In the first two days of the three-day elections, over half of Russians have already gone to vote, reported Ruters citing officials.
Country’s opposition has called all its supporters to vote at the same at noon on the final day, in an action dubbed “Noon Against Putin.”
While sporadic protests marked the election already, the latest developments in the war with Ukraine have cast a greater shadow on the vote so far.
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On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of trying to disrupt the election with its intensified drone and missile attacks inside Russia and Moscow-held territory in Ukraine.
He has also vowed to “punish” Ukraine.
As the third day of voting began a strike on a Russian refinery was reported which killed one person, as per AFP.
The Krasnodar region operational headquarters said, “The fire on the territory of the Slavyansk oil refinery has now been completely extinguished… one person died at the time of the drone attack, the preliminary cause of death being a heart attack.”
#UPDATE “The fire on the territory of the Slavyansk oil refinery has now been completely extinguished… one person died at the time of the drone attack, the preliminary cause of death being a heart attack,” the Krasnodar region operational headquarters said.
Roman Sinyagovsky,…
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) March 17, 2024
Roman Sinyagovsky, a Slavyansk Municipal District official blamed the attack on Ukraine.
Earlier on Sunday, local Russian officials said that Kyiv’s forces continued their strikes on Russian regions bordering Ukraine.
In his nightly video address on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not address the reported attacks but thanked his military forces and intelligence “for the new Ukrainian long-range capabilities.”