Vladimir Putin has voted in Russia’s parliamentary elections amid concerns he is plotting a major escalation in his confrontations with the West.
Kremlin footage showed the Russian leader casting his vote electronically in the poll, which he has pitched as renewing a mandate for continuing the war in Ukraine.
The 73-year-old could be squinting intensely at a desktop computer, clicking the mouse, then smirking as his vote was registered.
“You can’t go wrong here. There it is. Thank you,” he said in Russian.
The three-day election is the first poll held for the State Duma since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 and will decide the composition of the 450-seat lower chamber of parliament.
Preliminary results are anticipated from 6pm on Sunday, with Putin’s United Russia party widely anticipated to maintain its iron grip on the nation’s political landscape.
Victory would see Putin remain in power until 2036 under current constitutional arrangements.
Critics have dismissed the election as a sham, with the majority of anti-war candidates blocked from standing.
Vladimir Putin has cast his vote in Russia’s parliamentary elections
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REUTERS
The Russian Supreme Court barred the liberal Yabloko party, the sole political force calling for a ceasefire, for violating electoral regulations.
Voters were encouraged to cast their ballots electronically, a method observers say is vulnerable to manipulation.
The Kremlin has justified its insistence on national unity by claiming that Ukrainian intelligence services and other hostile actors are making increasingly dangerous attempts to foment instability within Russia.
In a televised address before voting began, Putin declared participation in the election would bolster Russia’s path to victory in Ukraine and signal the nation’s determination against outside pressure.
Victory in the polls would keep the Russian leader in power until 2036
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GETTY
Meanwhile, Western intelligence officials have warned the Kremlin is preparing to intensify the conflict and step up hybrid attacks targeting Kyiv’s allies across Europe.
Nato officials fear Putin is plotting the “stealth mobilisation” of thousands of Russians in preparation for such an escalation.
The Russian leader could use the extra manpower to enhance his hybrid warfare against Europe, The Telegraph reports.
Putin has adopted an increasingly bellicose tone towards European nations, with Russian ships brazenly firing warning shots at a British yacht in the English Channel.
Western intelligence officials have warned that the Kremlin is preparing to intensify its hybrid war with the West
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GETTY
Responding to military exercises in the Baltic Sea that involved practising the seizure of civilian vessels, the Russian president threatened he would “respond”.
“Let’s live in peace; otherwise, we will have to respond,” he said. “There will be no other way.”
Ukrainian intelligence assessments suggest instability is also brewing within Putin’s inner circle, with two factions holding opposing views on whether to continue the war.
The European Union has dismissed Putin’s repeated peace overtures as a ploy designed solely to stave off further sanctions.
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