On Sunday, March 17, citizens of Russia living in Serbia and Montenegro will go to the polls for the president of the Russian Federation.
There are four candidates on the ballot, of which the only favorite is current President Vladimir Putin, who is on track to secure another six-year term.
His critics point out that elections in Russia are tightly controlled by the Kremlin and are neither free nor fair, but the government considers them necessary to create a sense of legitimacy.
Russian citizens in Serbia vote at the address of the Russian embassy school in New Belgrade.
The non-governmental organization Russian Democratic Society, led by Russian citizens in Serbia, announced that it will join the global action "Noon against Putin", which was previously called by almost all Russian opposition figures, including Alexei Navalny, the most famous and fierce critic of the Kremlin, who died February 16 in an isolated arctic prison under suspicious circumstances.
"Citizens of Russia who oppose Vladimir Putin's dictatorship and intend to vote against him will appear at the polling stations at noon on March 17 to publicly demonstrate their numbers despite election falsifications and propaganda," the Russian Democratic Society said in a statement.
In Montenegro, voting in the Russian presidential elections was organized in the building of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Podgorica. The polling station will be open from 20 a.m. to XNUMX p.m.
"In order to vote, you must visit the polling station in person and show a valid passport," the Embassy's website states.
The embassy stated on the Telegram network that security and control measures will be strengthened on the day of voting in order to protect the safety of voters and members of the election commission.
"Video surveillance will be provided at the polling station," the post states.
There is no information on the website and social networks of the Embassy about the number of Russian citizens who have the right to vote in Podgorica.
About 27.000 Russians officially reside in Montenegro.
By the way, Russian anti-war activists in Montenegro organized a signing of support for the presidential candidacy of opposition politician Boris Nadezhdin in January.
However, the Central Election Commission did not approve his candidacy, stating that he did not have 100.000 authentic signatures to become a candidate.
Voting in 11 time zones
Russian voters cast their ballots at nearly 100.000 polling stations in the country's 11 time zones, as well as in regions of Ukraine illegally annexed by Moscow.
Ukrainian and Western governments condemned Russia for holding the vote in those parts, calling it illegal.
The results are expected to be announced on March 18.
Exactly a month before the polls opened, Putin's most vocal critic, opposition politician Alexei Navalny, died in an isolated Arctic prison under suspicious circumstances while serving what his supporters say was politically motivated sentences.
Many observers say Putin got rid of even the weakest challenger to secure a major victory that he can point to as proof that Russians support the war in Ukraine and his handling of the conflict.
The presidential election marks the first major turnout in Russia since Putin launched an invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022.
Putin (71), who has been continuously in the position of president or prime minister for the last almost 25 years, is competing against three lesser-known politicians: the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party Leonid Slutsky, the deputy speaker of the State Duma Vladislav Davankov from the New People party and the deputy of the State Duma Nikolai Kharitonov from the Communist Party, whose political positions hardly differ from Putin's.
Last month, Russia's Central Election Commission rejected the candidacy of Boris Nadezhdin, a 60-year-old politician who has criticized Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
His candidacy was rejected due to, as explained by the Commission, invalid signatures of support for his candidacy. Despite his appeals, the Supreme Court of Russia confirmed the decision of the Election Commission.
Signatures of support for Nadezhdin's candidacy were also collected by Russian citizens in Serbia, as well as elsewhere in the diaspora.
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