In a major democratic exercise Russians are casting their ballots in the presidential election. The country spread into eleven time zones began polls in the Far East region of Kamchatka to the western exclave of Kaliningrad. Eight candidates are vying for the post of president.

According to Russian Television (RT), the vote will last for a total of 22 hours. The first polling stations welcomed early voters at 8:00 am local time [20:00 GMT] on Saturday while polling started in Moscow nine hours later, at 5:00 am GMT, and will proceed until the polls close at 8:00 pm [17:00 GMT].

The incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin  who is running as an independent while other candidates for the highest executive post  including Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin, the liberal Yabloko party candidate Grigory Yavlinsky, Liberal Democratic Party of Russia candidate Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian All-People’s Union candidate Sergey Baburin, and Maksim Suraykin from the Communists of Russia voted in Moscow. However, Boris Titov, the Party of Growth candidate, voted along with his family in the village of Abrau-Durso in the southern Krasnodar region.

The reports from Moscow believe that President Vladimir Putin is expected to win the elections for the fourth time since he is leading in the polls by a wide margin.

The election results are expected to trickle in by the end of the day and a stage where Putin is expected to deliver his victory address has already been set up in Moscow’s city centre, near the Kremlin.

Nearly 109 million voters have the right to cast their ballot in approximately  100,000 voting stations across the 85 regions and republics of the Russian Federation. Russian citizens are also casting their votes in their embassies and other representative offices in 145 countries.

Polling stations on 38 cross-country trains, hospitals and military bases were also provided. A virtual voting station in space for Russian astronaut, Anton Shkaplerov, current crew commander at the International Space Station, to cast his vote has also been made available.

Residents of Crimea, where Putin held his last public rally on Wednesday, will vote for the first time in Russian presidential elections. Elections are being coincided with the fourth anniversary of the annexation of the peninsula. Crimea figured prominently in Putin’s election campaign.

Meanwhile, the opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who was barred from running in the elections over a fraud conviction in a court case has called for a boycott of the vote. He has claimed that it was politically motivated.

On Friday, Russian news outlet RBC reported that the Kremlin has indicated that a turnout of 65 percent would be considered “good”. During the 2012 presidential elections, 65.3 percent of voters turned up to the voting.

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Appreciates China for cooperation to contain Pyongyang

In another unexpected move, US President Donald Trump has accused Russia for helping North Korea in skirting international sanctions and appreciated China for its help in containing Pyongyang.

While speaking to Reuters in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, Trump said, “Russia is not helping us at all with North Korea. What China is helping us with, Russia is denting. In other words, Russia is making up for some of what China is doing.”

US President Donald Trump, who has been alleged for receiving Russian help during 2016 elections, rarely criticised Kremlin and advocated for improving relations with that country.

Trump’s rare criticism of Russia came as he appreciated China for largely complying with international sanctions passed in 2017 targeting North Korean shipping, coal, seafood and labour.

According to CNN, Trump’s comments appear to be in reference to the reports that Russian tankers have helped refuel North Korea with shipments at sea, and follows allegations from US officials that Russia has been lax in its implementation of UN Security Council sanctions. Russia didn’t respond to the accusations.

Meanwhile, US Senator Tammy Duckworth, on his return from South Korea and Japan, said on Wednesday that it was clear that the Russia and China continue to aid North Korea despite additional sanctions.

Illinois Democrat Senator said, “The Russians are definitely providing supplies to the North Koreans and so are the Chinese. It is very clear both the Russians and Chinese are violating the additional sanctions.”

In December last year, the US spearheaded the passage of a UN Security Council Resolution sanctioning toughest restrictions on North Korea banning exports of industrial equipment, machinery, transportation vehicles and industrial metals to the hermit nation.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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