Electoral unrest in Russia: Incidents mar presidential elections

On Friday, 15 March, the three-day presidential election began in Russia. The ballot will include the names of Vladimir Putin and his formal opponents: Nikolai Charitonov, Vladislav Davankov, and Leonid Slutsky.

No one has any doubts that these elections are only meant to give the appearance of democracy and ensure another six years of power for the current President of Russia.

Russian independent media report, that over the last few hours, several incidents have occurred during voting. For instance - as reported by Dozhd TV - in Petersburg, a woman threw a Molotov cocktail at the door of the school where the voting was organized. She was detained.

Read more: He went underground a few weeks ago. The general has been found and voted for Putin

Meanwhile, in Moscow, at a polling station, a voting booth was set on fire. The woman detained in connection with the incident faces up to five years in prison. Also, in the city of Kogalym in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, there was an attempt to set fire to the premises of the electoral commission.

In Moscow and several other cities, ballots in the boxes were soaked with various substances. A criminal case was initiated against a woman who poured a disinfectant called brilliant green into a ballot box in Moscow.

Online, you can find recordings illustrating these events. There’s also a video that shows a Moscow resident burning her ballot.

A Moscow resident burned her ballot, where instead of a checkmark in the box, she wrote "Give back my husband!!!". The footage spread through Russian channels shortly after the video of the ballot box being set on fire at another polling station - reported Belsat on the service X (formerly Twitter)