On Saturday, the second day of an election that President Vladimir Putin has accused Kyiv of attempting to sabotage, a drone strike destroyed an oil refinery and two people were killed by a Ukrainian missile attack that occurred in western Russia.
Voting in the three-day presidential election has been clouded by the war in Ukraine, which is almost guaranteed to give Putin six more years in the Kremlin.
Two people have died in the Belgorod area, according to the governor, as a result of cross-border assaults from Ukraine. Belgorod city’s deserted streets were seen on camera, with flames raging and air raid sirens ringing.
A second refinery was not attacked, according to Dmitry Azarov, the governor of the Samara region, which is located 850 kilometers (530 miles) southeast of Moscow. The Syzran refinery was on fire.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said that it had stopped attempts by Ukrainian soldiers to enter the Belgorod area across the border. According to Governor Gladkov, retail centers in Belgorod City will be closed on Sunday and Monday, while schools in a large portion of the area would be closed on Monday and Tuesday due to “the current situation”.
This week, Ukraine has launched several strikes on Russian territory, mostly targeting oil facilities. On Friday, Russia launched its most devastating strike in recent weeks when its missiles struck a residential neighborhood in the Black Sea port city of Odesa, Ukraine, leaving over 70 people injured and at least 20 dead.
There’s no danger to Putin’s grasp on power. With 71 years of age, he has dominated Russian politics as president or prime minister since the end of 1999, and none of the other three contenders on the ballot provide a serious challenge.
The opposition has referred to the referendum as a charade because his main opponents are either in jail or have left the country. The most well-known opposition figure in Russia, Alexei Navalny, passed away in an Arctic prison colony last month, and his followers have charged Putin with orchestrating his assassination. His death certificate said that he passed away from natural causes, but the Kremlin rejected that.
High attendance in various areas
The goal of a large turnout, according to the Kremlin, is to show that the nation is behind Putin.
By day two’s afternoon, turnout had surpassed forty percent overall. Nearly 70% of the highest rates were recorded in the Belgorod region, the site of the missile strike, and in Ukrainian districts under Russian control, where Kyiv declares that voting is null and void.
United Russia, the ruling party in Russia, announced on Saturday that it has stopped non-essential services in an effort to fend off a major denial of service assault, a type of malware designed to stop web traffic.
A senior telecommunications official was reported by state news agency RIA as stating that the amount of cyberattacks against Russia was “unprecedented” and attributing the strikes to the West and Ukraine. He stated that IP addresses in North America and Western Europe have been linked to part of the activities.
A few demonstrations occurred during Friday’s vote, including the hurling of a Molotov cocktail at a polling place in Putin’s hometown and the pouring of colored liquid into ballot boxes. There were also reports of cyberattacks.
Ella Pamfilova, the chairwoman of the electoral commission, called those who attempted to tamper with the voting process “scumbags” and threatened them with up to five years in prison on Friday.
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