Ukraine-Russia battle dwell: Protests anticipated on final day of sham election as ‘shell dropped on polling station’

Critics of president Vladimir Putin have known as for protests at Russian polling stations on the ultimate day of the sham presidential elections.

There have been sporadic acts of protests within the first two days of the polls, with a spate of arrests of Russians accused of pouring dye into poll bins.

Alexei Navalny, Kremlin critic and opposition chief, earlier than his demise had known as on Russians to stage protests on Sunday. Now, his widow Yulia Navalnaya, has reiterated his name.

She known as for protesters to spoil ballots by writing “Navalny” on them or vote for candidates as an alternative of Mr Putin, AFP reported

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky stated recent profitable Ukraine drone strikes on Russian targets revealed vulnerabilities within the Russian battle machine.

Ukraine has struck a number of oil refineries in Russia this week, reaching targets in Krasnodar, Samara, Ryazan, Kaluga, Nizhny Novgorod, and Leningrad.

“These weeks have demonstrated to many that the Russian war machine has vulnerabilities that we can reach with our weapons,” Mr Zelensky stated in his night handle.

“I am grateful to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, and Defence Intelligence for their new Ukrainian long-range capability.

“What our own drones are capable of is a true Ukrainian long-range capability. Ukraine will now always have a strike force in the sky,” he added.

United Russia, for which Vladimir Putin acts as its de facto ruler however isn’t representing in these elections, claimed it confronted a widespread denial of service attack – a type of cyberattack geared toward paralysing internet visitors – and had suspended non-essential companies to repel it.

State information company RIA quoted a senior telecoms official as blaming the cyberattacks on Ukraine and Western international locations. They didn’t present proof to substantiate this declare.

Russian residents will spend this weekend casting their vote for his or her subsequent president, regardless that the consequence has already been determined.

No quantity of votes towards him can stop his victory, say the Russian dissident group, for the reason that system is rigged and people who may problem him have both been killed, imprisoned or exiled.

Ukrainian shelling of the Russian metropolis of Belgorod killed two folks, officers stated Saturday, whereas Russia claimed to have thwarted a brand new try by saboteurs to cross the border.

Saturday’s assaults occurred as Russians entered the second day of voting in a presidential election that’s all however sure to increase Vladimir Putin’s rule by one other six years after he crushed dissent.

A person and a girl died within the attack and three different folks have been wounded, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov stated. It was the latest in exchanges of long-range missile and rocket fireplace in Russia’s battle on Ukraine.

With the outcomes of the vote already identified prematurely, it might be tempting to solid a blind eye to the proceedings, writes Mary Dejevsky. But after the demise of Alexei Navalny, and uncertainty round Ukraine, issues will not be fairly as predictable as they appear…

Editorial: With little doubt over the ‘winner’ of this weekend’s Russian presidential election, the West ought to take coronary heart that Putin finds himself remoted – and as his nation recedes into Stalinism, so too does its financial prospects. His impoverishing of the Russian folks will show his undoing

One person died as fireplace broke out after Ukraine launched a number of drones on the Slavyansk oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar area, official stated on Sunday.

“The drones were neutralised, but a fire broke out as a result of the fall of one of the devices,” the operational headquarters of the area in southern Russia stated.

The fireplace was extinguished and there have been no casualties because of the hearth itself, the administration stated. Preliminary data indicated, nevertheless, one person had died of a coronary heart attack, it added.

Roman Siniagovskyi, head of the Slavyansk administrative district, stated on Telegram that the refinery employees have been evacuated and there was no risk to close by populated areas from the incident.