The first elections in Russia since the prolonged invasion of Ukraine are underway, with significant barriers being placed on opposition candidates.
Elections are currently underway in Russia, amid major setbacks for the country's prolonged invasion of Ukraine. One pundit, however, has called this latest round of elections"totally senseless."
Voting began on Friday for a variety of local and regional offices across Russia, including municipal elections in Moscow, which have not been held since 2017. In the face of mounting losses in its invasion of Ukraine and crippling waves of economic sanctions as a result of the war, Russian President
has reportedly gone further than ever before to ensure that opposition forces do not secure any significant wins, according toThis has involved jailing and exiling numerous opposition leaders, with the independent Russian watchdog group, Golos, claiming that"real competition [in Russia] this year is at one of the lowest rates in a decade.
In the 2017 election, Putin's opposition made significant gains in government while maintaining a minority presence. After the numerous embarrassing and debilitating consequences of the war in Ukraine, Putin has reportedly worked to prevent his political opponents from winning gains in the government that match even those small victories from 2017.
Critics have also highlighted the fact that the elections have been held over the course of three days, from Friday through Sunday. Because of this, they say that poll workers will have a more difficult time monitoring everything that goes on.
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