Russians to cast ballots on last day of presidential election

Voting will take place at polling stations across the country’s 11 time zones as well as online voting in the regions that broke away from Ukraine and rejoined the Russian federation. The first two day of voting already marked by a high turnout.

For the first time, the election is taking place over three days and polls will finally close at 8pm local time on Sunday.

The election comes against the backdrop of Russia-Ukraine war, in which, the Russia military has had advantage on the battlefield despite money and arms flows to Kiev by its western backers, especially the United States.

But ahead of the election, President Putin boasted Russia’s gain both on the battlefield and the economic front despite western sanctions.

On Saturday, the election was accompanied by interesting aspects such as door-to-door voting in war zones and confrontation with hackers who attempted to target the country's electoral systems.

However, there were incidents at some polling stations, including attempts to break ballot boxes and spoil ballots, as well as a number of arson attacks.

Moscow-installed electoral officials in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s Kherson region also accused Ukrainian forces of shelling polling stations, according to the TASS news agency.

According to IRNA's correspondent in Moscow, the voter turnout on the second day of balloting reached over 50%.

Over 114 million Russians are eligible to cast their ballots in the presidential elections, of which more than 112 million live in Russia. Previously, most opinion polls predicted 71% turnout and the victory for Putin as three other candidates in the race are not formidable challengers.

This is the eighth presidential election in Russia and it will be the fifth term for Putin as president if he secures the victory on Sunday.