Russia election 2024 updates: Putin looks to secure 5th term as president

Thank you for joining us.

You can find more about the election here.

You can also read about how Russia’s economy has been outperforming expectations here, and why Putin is desperate for a big election win, here.

We will be closing this live page soon, so here’s a recap of some of the key events on the first day of voting:

• Voters across Russia’s 11 time zones headed to the polls to pick the country’s next president, with incumbent Vladimir Putin being all but certain to secure his fifth term.
• Voting has also been held in the parts of Ukrainian regions that Russian forces have seized and occupied.
• For the first time, the election will take place over three days and polls close at 8pm local time on Sunday.
• Officials said that voting proceeded in an orderly fashion, but at least eight people were arrested for acts of vandalism at polling stations.
• The Kremlin said Ukraine’s attacks on the border region of Belgorod were designed to destabilise the election.

Former law student Sveta used to study history, cinema and law but later quit due to censorship.

“I have a constant feeling of fear. I’m now scared when I see the police,” the video editor told Al Jazeera.

“If I go out into the street and I see strangers, I carefully choose my words and cannot say anything about Ukraine, I’m scared to pronounce the word ‘war’.”

Many young voters in Russia have only known life under Vladimir Putin – they have grown up with his increasingly anti-Western, patriarchal and patriotic narratives.

Polling shows that young Russians are currently the group most critical of Putin’s rule and the most dissatisfied with Russia’s political system.

Al Jazeera’s The Stream speaks to activists and experts to find out what Russia’s Gen Z believes about the election.

Watch the discussion below:

Police have detained at least eight people for acts of vandalism at polling stations on the first day of voting.

As we previously reported, a video showed a woman pouring dye into a ballot box. She was detained and charged with “obstructing the exercise of electoral rights”, investigators said.

In Moscow, a video published by the independent SOTA news outlet showed an elderly woman setting a voting booth alight, filling a polling station with smoke, before she is detained by police.

Four other people in the Russian regions of Voronezh, Karachay-Cherkessia and Rostov were also arrested for pouring dye into ballot boxes, officials said.

Meanwhile, in the remote Siberian region of Khanty-Mansi, a woman was detained for trying to burn a ballot box with a Molotov cocktail, voting officials said.

And in the Chelyabinsk region, police detained a man who tried to set firecrackers off at a polling station, the TASS news agency reported, citing the regional government.

Similar incidents were also reported in St Petersburg and in the annexed Crimean Peninsula, according to local media.

By Yulia Shapovalova, reporting from Moscow

From all over the country, there are reports of queues, of state employees coming to the polls.

Since this morning, we’ve seen teachers, doctors, students, employees of large state companies and other state organisations because the authorities required people to vote before starting their work or their studies on Friday, and the authorities keep a record of those who have voted.

There are also reports of incidents at polling stations – spoiled ballots, people in a number of regions throughout the country dumped some sort of liquid paint inside ballot boxes, and failed attempts to set fire at polling stations were reported.

We continue with our series on Russia’s young generation.

Roman, a photographer, says young people are uncertain about their futures.

“When the mobilisation of reservists was announced in September 2022, people were clueless [about] what would happen to them in two weeks,” Roman told Al Jazeera.

“Authorities have driven us into what is called the special military operation [Ukraine war] and they don’t know themselves how to get out of it.”

We’re briefly pausing the election coverage to bring you the latest news from the war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials say a Russian missile attack on Odesa has killed at least 14 people and wounded 46 others.

A first missile hit houses and when emergency crews arrived at the scene a second missile landed, authorities said. Among those killed were a paramedic and an emergency service worker, while a blaze has also started.

Ukraine’s Emergency Service and regional Governor Oleh Kiper said at least 10 houses and a quantity of emergency service equipment were damaged in the attack on Ukraine’s third largest city.

Central Election Commission Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova has said almost 2.6 million citizens across Russia cast their ballots during the early voting period from February 25 to March 14, state news agency TASS reported.

In the annexed Ukrainian regions where voting also took place, Pamfilova said as many as 1,171,849 voters cast early ballots in the Donetsk People’s Republic.

In the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), about 326,379 people voted, while in the Kherson region the number was 280,566.

For several years, 23-year-old Liza, a lawyer, has volunteered in an organisation dealing with domestic violence.

“Over the past seven to 10 years, the situation’s been getting worse,” Liza told Al Jazeera.

“Our statistics show – in 2021, out of a total number of domestic violence victims, about 65 percent of women were killed. The Russian Orthodox Church ignores women’s desire for independence.”

The Skitins were among the first to cast their ballots this morning in the Russian capital.

Olga, a blogger and mother of two, told Al Jazeera that voting in the election was part of her civic duty and she voted for Putin, as did her husband, Boris.

“He’s the best candidate, and I like the policies that we have in Russia. I think what he’s doing is aimed at making our country better and stronger,” Boris Skitin said.

Lubov Dushko, 72, also voted for the incumbent.

“I’ve made my choice. I agree with my president and his policies – both domestic and abroad. I’ve chosen a man who I can trust, the leader of our country. His name is Vladimir Putin. I trust him, and I vote for him in every election,” Dushko told Al Jazeera.

Russian state investigators in Moscow say they have opened a criminal case against a woman who poured liquid into a ballot box.

The Investigative Committee’s press service said the charge was “obstructing the exercise of electoral rights or the work of election committees”.

The woman was detained, and the Investigative Committee intends to interrogate her, the press service added.

Independent Russian media outlet Mediazona posted a video of the incident on X and said there were “three more similar incidents” at polling stations.

В Москве возбудили уголовное дело против женщины, вылившей краску в урну с бюллетенями. В первый день трехдневного голосования на выборах стало известно о еще трех подобных случаях с краской на участкахhttps://t.co/wiFMSZGV5z

Видео: Baza pic.twitter.com/NvUGgxka5s

— Медиазона (@mediazzzona) March 15, 2024