Russians begin voting in a three-day election that will almost certainly give the president six more years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of trying to disrupt his country's presidential election by bombing Russian territory and using 2,500 troops to try to pierce Russia's borders, vowing to punish Kiev for its actions.
Polls opened on Friday in 11 time zones in Russia to begin three days of voting with Putin almost certain to secure his fifth term since winning his first election in 2000 with dissent in the country almost completely quelled.
The shadow of the Ukrainian war hung over the election with what Putin said were repeated bombings of Western Russia and an attempt by Ukrainian proxies to cross into Russian territory in two Russian regions.
“These enemy attacks will not go unpunished,” a visibly angry Putin said at a meeting of Russia's Security Council, which includes military and spy chiefs as well as the most powerful civilian state officials.
Putin said there had been four attacks in the Belgorod region and one in the Kursk region – both on the border with Ukraine – by about 2,500 Ukrainian representatives. He said they had 35 tanks and 40 armored vehicles and that 60 percent of the fighters were killed.
Ukrainian officials said earlier on Friday that Ukrainian-based Russian armed groups opposed to the Kremlin carried out the attacks in Belgorod and Kursk.
The first day of the election was also marred by disruptions including dye being poured into ballot boxes, a Molotov cocktail being thrown at a polling station in Putin's hometown and reports of cyberattacks.
At least nine people were arrested for acts of vandalism at polling stations. There were two incidents in Moscow, where a woman filled a ballot box with ink and another woman at another polling station set fire to a booth.
Several people poured green liquid into the ballot boxes, an apparent nod to the late opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who in 2017 was attacked by an assailant who sprayed his face with green disinfectant.
The head of the Russian electoral commission, Ella Pamfilova, said those who committed acts of vandalism face up to five years in prison and suggested they had been paid by people seeking to disrupt the vote.
The other candidates running come from Kremlin-friendly parties: Nikolai Kharitonov of the Communist Party, Leonid Slutsky of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party and Vladislav Davankov of the New People's Party.
Opposition politician Boris Nadezhdin tried to run against Putin on a pacifist ticket but was banned from standing after the Central Election Commission said irregularities had been found in his supporters' signature list.
Other potential opposition candidates who could have run against Putin have died, been imprisoned or live abroad.
Al Jazeera's Dorsa Jabbari, reporting from Moscow, said everyone she spoke to at the polling station she visited said they supported Putin.
“They say he is the man of the country, they trust him and have known him for many years. “They believe in his policies both internally and externally,” he said.
“What is clear is that Putin will once again continue his reign in power and tighten his control.”
Annexed regions
Residents of the regions of Ukraine annexed to Russia (Crimea, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson) also participated in the presidential elections.
In the eastern Donetsk region, soldiers armed in full combat gear accompanied election officials as they set up mobile voting stations at small tables on the streets.
Ukraine condemned the elections being held in the annexed territories. In December, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling on the international community to “impose sanctions on those involved in its organization and conduct.”
“Any election in Russia has nothing to do with democracy. “They serve only as a tool to keep the Russian regime in power,” the ministry said.
Olga Tokariuk, a Chatham House OSUN Academy member at the Ukraine Forum, also said Ukrainians are not taking the elections “seriously.”
“Real change in Russia will not come automatically with Putin's removal from power; It is only possible if Russia renounces its imperialist ambitions and stops fighting wars of conquest, something that is not on the horizon,” Tokariuk told Al Jazeera.
