Putin declared the winner with 88 percent of the votes – Russia’s elections at a glance Fight with machetes: Dispute in Berlin’s “Dong Xuan Center” escalates

Putin declared the clear election winner

In the presidential election, which was accompanied by allegations of manipulation, the election commission awarded Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin almost 88 percent after counting the first ballots. Voter Ella Pamfilova announced this on Sunday evening, after almost a quarter of the ballots had been counted. This means that the 71-year-old Putin has won more than ten percentage points compared to the 2018 elections.

It is considered the best result ever awarded to him. Voter turnout in the elections was reportedly over 74 percent – ​​also a record. It was the highest number in a Russian presidential election. However, critics pointed out that this could only be achieved through repression and coercion.

Russian woman sets off fireworks at polling station – and seriously injures herself

Several incidents occurred during the presidential elections in Russia, which were widely criticized as unfree. According to media reports, Ms. Zu set off fireworks at a polling station and seriously injured herself. The 64-year-old from the city of Perm caused the explosion in the building’s toilet and ripped off her own hand, the Telegram channel Baza reported on Sunday evening. According to media reports, regional authorities confirmed an emergency at the polling station and said the woman had been taken to hospital.

It is not known whether more people were injured.

Protests also in Switzerland

On the last day of the Russian presidential elections, about a thousand Russians protested against the incumbent Vladimir Putin in Bern on Sunday. The call went out to “all those who disagree with Putin’s policies and are against war and injustice.”

There were also protests against Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin in front of the Russian Consulate General in Geneva. The line, which included many young Russians, stretched orderly across the sidewalk, a correspondent from the Keystone-SDA news agency reported. Some carried posters against Putin and the war in Ukraine. Nearly 2,000 Russians from French-speaking Switzerland were expected to vote in Geneva.

Most of the people present around noon followed the call from the widow of the late opposition figure Alexei Navalny to go to the polls at the same time around noon.

Navalnaya writes Navalny on the ballot

Speaking of Nawlanaya, Navalny’s widow, who lives in Germany, also took part in protests in Berlin. The human rights activist did not abstain from voting, but said she had written her late husband’s name on the ballot paper.

She said this on Sunday in Berlin after participating in the elections for the Russian embassy there. Navalnaya unexpectedly joined the queue outside the embassy and then entered the area in the early evening. Shortly afterwards she left again.

According to police information, about 800 people took part in the demonstration in Berlin. The demonstrators shouted: “Victory for Ukraine! Freedom for Russia!”, “Navalny is a hero of Russia” and “Putin is illegitimate”. Numerous people waved flags in white-blue-white, which, according to the participants, should be the new colors of a free Russia.

The Russian Election Commission reports a higher turnout than in 2018

According to election officials, turnout in Russia’s presidential election, which was overshadowed by allegations of rigging, is now higher than in the previous election in 2018. As of 11:50 a.m. CET, the figure had risen from 67.54 percent. exceeded, the Russian state news agency Tass Appeal reported to the electoral commission on Sunday, the last day of voting. Two hours later, returning officer Ella Pamfilova said turnout was around 70.8 percent.

The election for Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s fifth term in office will last three days for the first time, which should also give more voters the opportunity to cast their votes. In addition, millions of people voted online, reportedly partly under pressure from authorities.

According to the election commission in Moscow, 7.74 million people used online voting by 11 a.m. CET, corresponding to a turnout of almost seven percent. Turnout at polling stations in the country was reported to be around 66.07 percent by early afternoon. Despite Putin’s seemingly certain victory, the power apparatus is aiming for a high turnout to make the outcome appear legitimate.

However, critics complain that the online process in particular is easy to manipulate. Independent observers criticize the fact that many citizens have been pushed to the polls by their state employers. Not only is this illegal, but requesting voters to send photos of the ballot to superiors is also considered a violation of voting rights.

The first results should be available on Sunday evening, with meaningful results only on Monday.

Absurd images from polling stations

Absurd images from Russian polling stations are currently circulating on social media. A video shows an armed soldier storming into the voting booths to see what is happening there. Another video shows a woman being detained by a police officer for having green paint on her.

After drone attack: Moscow airports limit flights

After the drone attacks, Moscow’s Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky airports are restricting their flight movements for security reasons, Die Welt reports. Five Ukrainian drones were shot down near Moscow.

Two people were killed by rocket fire in the regional capital Belgorod.

Dozens of people arrested during anti-Kremel protests

The Ovd-Info portal reports on Twitter that dozens of people have been arrested during anti-Kremlin protests in Russia. In total, the Ovd-Info organization counted more than seventy arrests across the country at the beginning of Sunday afternoon, including about thirty in the city of Kazan. People in Moscow and St. Petersburg were also affected. Many of them wanted to stand in long lines in front of their polling stations at exactly 12:00 local time to show their dissatisfaction with the re-election of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, which was planned by the power apparatus and classified by the opposition as undemocratic.

Opposition politician Boris Nadezhdin, who was excluded from the presidential elections, also took part in the peaceful ‘Lunch against Putin’ protest in the Russian capital. At the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, where there is a polling station, he was greeted with great applause by students, as shown in a video he published on Telegram on Sunday. “I think you still have a chance to vote for me,” he told the crowd. He announced that he would publish his own post-election surveys after the polls closed.

(cmu with material from sda)