At least nine people were detained for vandalism on election day, despite warnings from the government that those who protested would face harsh penalties.
At least nine people were arrested for throwing dye into ballot boxes and committing arson attacks on Friday, the first day of voting in Russia’s presidential election.
Following a three-day poll he conducted to demonstrate Russians’ allegiance to and support for his military invasion of Ukraine, which is already in its third year, Vladimir Putin is expected to secure another six years in the Kremlin.
At least nine people were detained for damaging polling places on election day, despite warnings from the authorities that those who participated in protests would face harsh penalties.
In one video from Moscow, a lady was seen putting green dye into a ballot box, and another showed a woman lighting a voting booth on fire and flooding the polling place with smoke.
Four other people were arrested for similar offenses in the Russian provinces of Rostov, Voronezh, and Karachay-Cherkessia; women were arrested in Saint Petersburg and the Siberian region of Khanty-Mansi for hurling Molotov cocktails at voting places.
