Russia begins voting to pick next president

Russians headed to the polls on Friday for a three-day presidential election to select their next leader for a six-year term.

For the country's eighth presidential election, the government has set up more than 90,000 polling stations operating from 8 am to 8 pm local time from Friday to Sunday.

Given Russia's vast expanse across multiple time zones, Kamchatka and Chukotka, situated in the Far East region, are the first areas to start voting, with voters heading to the polling stations at 8 am local time. Vladimir Solodov, governor of Kamchatka, became the first regional head to cast his ballot, Russian state news agency TASS reported.

Polling stations in Kaliningrad, located at the western end of Russia, will be the last to begin voting.

Early voting began on Feb 25 for voters in remote, hard-to-reach areas, polar regions, overseas vessels and border outposts. Russian citizens living abroad could cast their ballots on March 1.

Four candidates will vie for the top position: Leonid Slutsky of the Liberal Democratic Party, Nikolai Kharitonov of the Russian Communist Party, Vladislav Davankov of the New People Party, and Vladimir Putin, the incumbent who is running as an independent.

According to data released by the Russian Central Election Commission, about 110 million Russian citizens are eligible to vote, including more than 1.8 million living abroad.

Under Russia's presidential election law, the president, who serves as head of state, is elected directly by the populace for a six-year term. Eligible presidential candidates must be Russian Federation citizens who are at least 35 years old, have resided in Russia for more than 25 years, and have never held citizenship of another country.

A candidate who secures more than half of the votes will be elected president. If no candidate achieves a majority and there are more than two candidates, a second round of voting will be held between the two candidates with the most votes. The candidate with the highest number of votes in the second round will be elected president.

The counting of votes will begin once the election concludes and will continue until the results are finalized. The election commission will confirm the election results no later than March 28 and subsequently announce the outcome within three days of confirmation.

The overseeing mission of the Commonwealth of Independent States made up of 194 people will observe Russia's presidential election, the mission's head Ilkhom Nematov said.

The election came as Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine enters its third year.

"I support Putin and, of course, I will vote for him," Lyudmila Petrova, 46, who was shopping for sneakers at one of Russia's largest wholesale markets in southern Moscow, said.

"Putin raised Russia up from its knees. And Russia will defeat the West and Ukraine. You cannot defeat Russia — ever. Have you in the West gone completely mad? What is Ukraine to do with you?"

Aerial bombardment

Ahead of the election, Kyiv ramped up its aerial bombardment of Russian regions just across their shared border.

Kyiv has launched some of its largest air attacks on Russia this past week. Russia's Defense Ministry said on Friday it had downed drones and rockets over the Belgorod border region and the Kaluga region, southwest of the capital Moscow.

Andrey Klimov, deputy chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, said on Thursday that anti-Russian forces are using attacks on Russia to artificially increase preelection tension.

Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov echoed Klimov's sentiments and said on Thursday that his embassy has already received many threats, adding that provocations are being prepared for the voting period.