Moscow, 17 March 2024 (dpa/MIA) — The presidential election in Russia entered its third and final day on Sunday.

The vote is intended to secure President Vladimir Putin, 71, who has dominated Russian politics for almost a quarter of a century, another six-year term in office until 2030.

The Kremlin has organized the vote in such a way as to demonstrate the population's supposedly high level of trust in Putin and support for his war against Ukraine.

According to independent electoral law experts in Russia and abroad, the conditions for the vote are neither free nor fair: The opposition is excluded and the three authorized opposing candidates are considered loyal to the Kremlin.

Numerous reports show that pressure is being exerted on Russians to take part in the election.

As early as Saturday afternoon, the central election administration reported that more than half of the approximately 114 million eligible voters had voted in polling stations or online.

Various opposition forces have called for people to go to the polls at exactly noon in their time zone on Sunday. The queues forming in front of the polling stations should give an impression of the fact that many people do not agree with Putin and his policies.

It is feared that the protest could lead to arrests. The authorities have warned voters not to take part in the campaign, which they say would show "signs of extremist activity."

The elections are taking place across 11 time zones in the world's largest country.

The first polling stations opened in the easternmost regions of Chukotka and the Kamchatka Peninsula at 2000 GMT on Saturday; the last ones in the Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad are due to close on Sunday evening at 1800 GMT, after which exit polls and initial counts are to be released.

The final count is expected to be completed by Monday morning.

Internationally, the fact that the sham election is also being held in the occupied Ukrainian territories has been particularly criticized. Russia has annexed these territories in violation of international law.