Russian election, cast as test of support for Ukraine war, enters final day

Discrediting the army or spreading what authorities regard as fake news are punishable by lengthy prison sentences. The Kremlin says national unity and some censorship are necessary during what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine.

It casts the conflict as part of an existential struggle with a hostile West and says Ukrainian intelligence services and other enemies are stepping up efforts to stir unrest inside Russia. Most anti-war candidates were barred from the ballot.

Those who did run from the liberal Yabloko party, which has polled in the single digits ⁠in recent years but hoped to tap into war fatigue, said they feared for their freedom after courts handed long jail terms to two senior party figures before the vote for comments about the conflict deemed illegal by authorities.

Discrediting the army or spreading what authorities regard as fake news are punishable by lengthy prison sentences. The Kremlin says national unity and some censorship are necessary during what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine.

It casts the conflict as part of an existential struggle with a hostile West and says Ukrainian intelligence services and other enemies are stepping up efforts to stir unrest inside Russia.

PERMITTED OPPOSITION PARTIES COULD BENEFITPutin on Friday accused Ukraine of trying to interfere in the election, citing what he said was a Ukrainian strike on the home of an election official in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region that killed Elena Astanina, the official.

Reuters could not independently verify ⁠details of the attack and there was no immediate comment from Kyiv. Russian electoral officials also said on Saturday that an online voting system in Moscow had come under cyberattack.

Kyiv, which has suspended elections under martial law, has dismissed the Russian vote as a "pseudo election".

Despite what most experts see as the election's predictable outcome, the NEST think-tank in Berlin, co-founded by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, whom Russian authorities have designated "a foreign agent", said the vote could still produce awkward moments for the Kremlin ⁠at a time of economic strain.

Initial results are expected to start emerging at around 1800 GMT on Sunday, with more complete results available on Monday.