Russia Election

Voters queue at a polling station at noon local time in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, March 17, 2024. (AP Photo)

Putin hails electoral victory that was preordained, after harshly suppressing opposition voices

President Vladimir Putin is basking in a victory early that was never in doubt, as partial election results underlined the Russian leader’s total control of the country’s political system.

Voters queue at a polling station at noon local time in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, March 17, 2024. The Russian opposition called on people to head to polling stations at noon on Sunday in protest as voting takes place on the last day of a presidential election that was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin's rule after he clamped down on dissent. AP can't confirm that all the voters seen at the polling station at noon were taking part in the opposition protest. (AP Photo)

Russians vote in election dominated by Putin

People hold sheets reading "enough" as they protest in downtown Tbilisi, Georgia, Sunday, March 17, 2024. Russians at home and abroad are heading to the polls for a presidential election that is all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin's rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo/Nicolo Vincenzo Malvestuto)

Putin basks in electoral victory that was never in doubt even as Russians quietly protest

FILE - People walk toward the Borisovskoye Cemetery for the funeral ceremony of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 1, 2024. After Navalny died last month in an Arctic penal colony, his allies quickly returned to work undermining Vladimir Putin's 24-year grip on power. (AP Photo, File)

With Navalny dead, his allies keep fighting to undermine Putin’s grip on power

An elderly woman casts a ballot during a presidential election via a mobile election committee, who visit people who cannot physically attend a polling station, in Nikolayevka village outside Siberian city of Omsk, 2236 km (1397 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, March 16, 2024. Voters in Russia are heading to the polls for a presidential election that is all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin's rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo)

Russians cast ballots in an election preordained to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule

Crackdown against dissent

FILE - Police detain a man trying to lay flowers to honor Alexei Navalny at a monument in St. Petersburg, Russia, to victims of Soviet repression, on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. Over the last decade, Vladimir Putin's Russia evolved from a country that tolerates at least some dissent to one that ruthlessly suppresses it. Arrests, trials and long prison terms — once rare — are commonplace. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Police detain a man trying to lay flowers to honor Alexei Navalny at a monument in St. Petersburg, Russia, to victims of Soviet repression, on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. Over the last decade, Vladimir Putin’s Russia evolved from a country that tolerates at least some dissent to one that ruthlessly suppresses it. Arrests, trials and long prison terms — once rare — are commonplace. (AP Photo, File)

How Putin’s crackdown on dissent became the hallmark of the Russian leader’s 24 years in power

Over the last decade, Vladimir Putin’s government has evolved from tolerating dissent to ruthlessly suppressing any activities or people who dared challenge it.

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With dissent stifled, some Russians help political prisoners by writing them letters of support

Who are the Russian dissidents still serving time after Alexei Navalny died behind bars?

A lonely radio nerd. A poet. Vladimir Putin’s crackdown sweeps up ordinary Russians

What’s life like for Russia’s political prisoners? Isolation, poor food and arbitrary punishment

A student of the Maritime State University named after admiral Gennady Nevelskoy leaves a voting booth at a polling station during a presidential election in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok, 6418 kms. (3566 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 15, 2024. Voters in Russia are heading to the polls for a presidential election that is all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin's rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo)

Russians are voting in an election that holds little suspense after Putin crushed dissent

Russia has begun three days of voting in a presidential election that is all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule for six more years after he stifled dissent.

FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with servicemen at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. Putin is poised to sweep to another six-year term in the March 15-17 presidential election, relying on his rigid control of Russia established during his 24 years in power — the longest Kremlin tenure since Soviet leader Josef Stalin. (Mikhail Tereshchenko, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

Putin is set to win 6 more years in power. Here’s how it will affect the war and Russia’s relations

Vladimir Putin is poised to sweep to another six-year term in this week’s presidential election, even though Russians are dying in Ukraine.

Pedestrians walk past a mannequin in a window of a fashion store in Tverskaya street in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. The economy's resilience in the face of bruising Western sanctions is a major factor behind President Vladimir Putin's grip on power in Russia. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Putin can point to a resilient Russian economy as he orchestrates his reelection

Russia’s economy is holding up despite massive Western sanctions and foreign businesses pulling out of the country.

Vladimir Putin, center, attends a Christmas service in Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, Jan. 8, 2000. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze, File)

On Russian TV ahead of the election, there’s only one program: Putin’s

Russian President Vladimir Putin came to power almost 25 years ago and since then he’s eliminated nearly all independent media — a process he ramped up after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

FILE - Riot police detain two young men at a demonstration in Moscow, Russia, on Sept. 21, 2022. The crackdown by Russian President Vladimir Putin affects not only opposition politicians but also independent voices and those who don't conform to what the Kremlin sees as the country's "traditional values." (AP Photo, File)

Putin’s crackdown casts a wide net, ensnaring the LGBTQ+ community, lawyers and many others

It’s not just opposition politicians who are targeted in the crackdown by the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent years.

FILE - Boris Nadezhdin, a liberal Russian politician who had tried to run in next month's presidential election gestures while speaking at a meeting of the Russia's Central Election Commission in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. Russia's Supreme Court upheld a ruling Monday, March 4, 2024, barring anti-war politician Boris Nadezhdin from running in the country's upcoming presidential elections. In a statement on social media, Nadezhdin, a local legislator from a town near Moscow, said he would continue to appeal his case. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

Russia’s top court upholds decision barring anti-Ukraine war hopeful from presidential race

Russia’s Supreme Court has upheld a ruling barring liberal politician Boris Nadezhdin from running in the upcoming presidential election.

FILE - In this Monday, May 7, 2018 file photo, Vladimir Putin enters to take the oath during his inauguration ceremony as Russia's new president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia. With most opposition figures either in jail or abroad and many independent media outlets blocked, the Kremlin maintains a tight control over the country's political system and the vote is all but guaranteed to see President Vladimir Putin, 71, cement his place in power until at least 2030. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File)

What to know about Russia’s presidential election, set to give Putin another six-year term

With most opposition figures either in jail or abroad and many independent media outlets blocked, the Kremlin maintains a tight control over the country’s political system.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appears via a video link from the Arctic penal colony where he is serving a 19-year sentence, provided by the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service during a hearing of Russia's Supreme Court, in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Kremlin foe Navalny urges election day protests in Russia next month by voting at a specific hour

Imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny is urging Russians to show their protest of President Vladimir Putin during next month’s presidential balloting by voting at a specific time on election day.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, center, visit the SKA Arena sports and concert complex in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. (Pavel Bednyakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian election officials register Putin to run in March election he’s all but certain to win

Russia’s election commission on Monday formally registered President Vladimir Putin as a candidate for the March presidential election, a vote in which he’s all but certain to win another six-year term in office.

Russian politician Yekaterina Duntsova speaks to journalists after she appealed in Russia's Supreme Court a decision by Russia's Central Election Commission that refused to accept her initial nomination by a group of supporters, citing errors in the documents submitted, in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. Duntsova lost her appeal against Russia's Central Election Commission's refusal to accept her initial nomination to run for president in March's election by a group of supporters. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

Russian presidential hopeful loses appeal against authorities’ refusal to register her for the race

A Russian politician calling for peace in Ukraine has lost her appeal against election officials’ refusal to accept her nomination for the country’s presidential race that President Vladimir Putin is all but certain to win.

FILE - Participants watch Russian President Vladimir Putin's addressing a plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St.Petersburg, Russia, Friday, June 17, 2022. Most Russian opposition figures are either in prison at home or are in exile abroad. But they vow that they will still put up a fight against President Vladimir Putin as he seeks yet another term in office in an election scheduled for March. (AP Photo, File)

With Putin’s reelection all but assured, Russia’s opposition still vows to undermine his image

Most Russian opposition figures are either in prison at home or are in exile abroad. But they vow that they will still put up a fight against President Vladimir Putin as he seeks yet another term in office in an election scheduled for March.

FILE - President Vladimir Putin speaks in his annual televised New Year's message after a ceremony during a visit to the headquarters of the Southern Military District, at an unknown location in Russia, on Dec. 31, 2022. Putin on Friday Dec. 8, 2023 moved to prolong his repressive and unyielding grip on Russia for another six years, announcing his candidacy in the 2024 presidential election that he is all but certain to win.(Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

Putin will seek another term as Russian president, aiming to extend his rule of over two decades

Vladimir Putin has moved to prolong his repressive and unyielding grip on Russia for at least another six years, announcing his candidacy in the presidential election next March that he is all but certain to win.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to supporters during a rally near the Kremlin in Moscow, Sunday, March 18, 2018. Vladimir Putin headed to an overwhelming win in Russia's presidential election Sunday, adding six years in the Kremlin for the man who has led the world's largest country for all of the 21st century. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

The Latest: White House ‘not surprised’ by Putin re-election

9 p.m.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he speaks during a meeting with opposition candidates who ran against him in yesterday's presidential election, Boris Titov, Maxim Suraykin, Ksenia Sobchak, Vladimir Zhirinivsky, Pavel Grudinin, Sergei Baburin and Grigory Yavlinsky, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 19, 2018. Putin, who won a landslide victory in Sunday's vote, said during a Kremlin meeting with seven other candidates who challenged him, that the focus should now be on raising living standards and solving other domestic issues. (Yuri Kadobnov/Pool Photo via AP)

Putin’s dilemma: Scrap term limits or choose a successor

MOSCOW (AP) — With his best election showing ever, President Vladimir Putin is shifting comfortably into his next six-year term, but the gnawing question of what comes next already looms on Russia’s horizon.

A person holds a banner of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Manezhnaya square, near Kremlin in Moscow, Sunday, March 18, 2018. An exit poll suggests that Vladimir Putin has handily won a fourth term as Russia's president, adding six more years in the Kremlin for the man who has led the world's largest country for all of the 21st century. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

What to expect from Putin and a resurgent Russia

MOSCOW (AP) — Vladimir Putin now has a stronger hold on Russia — and stronger place in the world — thanks to an overwhelming mandate for yet another term as president.

A woman with her dog lines up with Russian military personnel to vote in the presidential election in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 18, 2018. Russians are voting in a presidential election in which Vladimir Putin is seeking a fourth term in the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Denis Tyrin)

Putin claims crushing victory in Russian presidential vote

MOSCOW (AP) — Vladimir Putin rolled to a crushing re-election victory Sunday for six more years as Russia’s president, and he told cheering supporters in a triumphant but brief speech that “we are bound for success.”

Russian President and Presidential candidate Vladimir Putin waits to get his ballot as he arrives to vote at a polling station during Russia's presidential election in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 18, 2018. Putin's victory in Russia's presidential election Sunday isn't in doubt. The only real question is whether voters will turn out in big enough numbers to hand him a convincing mandate for his fourth term and many Russian workers are facing intense pressure to do so. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

The Latest: Putin dodges question about future elections

MOSCOW (AP) — The Latest on Russia’s presidential election (all times local):

12 a.m.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dodged a question about his plans after serving another six-year term he has won.

Russian President and Presidential candidate Vladimir Putin arrives to vote at a polling station during Russia's presidential election in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 18, 2018. Putin's victory in Russia's presidential election Sunday isn't in doubt. The only real question is whether voters will turn out in big enough numbers to hand him a convincing mandate for his fourth term, and many Russian workers are facing intense pressure to do so. (Yuri Kadobnov/Pool Photo via AP)

Significant moments in Putin’s 18 years of power

MOSCOW (AP) — A look at some of the significant dates in Vladimir Putin’s 18 years in power as Russia’s president and prime minister:

A woman casts her ballot at a polling station in Yelisovo, about 30 kilometers ( 19 miles) north-east from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, capital of Kamchatka Peninsula region, Russian Far East, Russia, on Sunday, March. 18, 2018. Polls have opened in Russia's Far East for the presidential election in which Vladimir Putin seeks a 4th term. (AP Photo/Alexander Petpov)

Polls open in Russia as Putin eyes 4th presidential term

YEKATERINBURG, Russia (AP) — Vladimir Putin’s victory in Russia’s presidential election Sunday isn’t in doubt.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking at a youth forum "Russia, Land of Opportunity" in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 15, 2018. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Vladimir Putin’s power: From mean streets to Kremlin

MOSCOW (AP) — As a kid in a dismal Soviet communal apartment, Vladimir Putin was a scrapper who dreamed of being an operator — diligently training in martial arts and boldly walking into a KGB office to inquire about how to become a spy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking at a youth forum "Russia, Land of Opportunity" in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 15, 2018. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Putin urges high voter turnout ahead of Russian election

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin has urged Russians to cast ballots in Sunday’s election, which he is certain to win, saying that the vote will shape the country’s future.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to employees of the Almazov National Medical Center in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, March 16, 2018. (Anatoly Maltsev/Pool Photo via AP)

A look at the 8 candidates in Russia’s presidential election

MOSCOW (AP) — There are eight candidates in Sunday’s Russian presidential election, including President Vladimir Putin.

Putin holds a fish he caught during a mini-break in the Siberian Tyva region in this photo released by the Kremlin press service on Aug. 5, 2017. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

PHOTO GALLERY: Russian President Vladimir Putin through the years

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to easily win a fourth term Sunday, which would make him the nation’s longest-serving ruler since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

In this photo taken on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018, Yekaterinburg mayor Yevgeny Roizman talks to The Associated Press in his office in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Yekateringburg mayor Yevgeny Roizman openly criticizes President Vladimir Putin and has called for a boycott of Sunday’s presidential vote, a move advocated by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is banned from running. (AP Photo/Nataliya Vasilyeva)

Russia’s rebel mayor calls for presidential election boycott

MOSCOW (AP) — In Russia, where all governors and mayors are either Kremlin nominees or hail from Kremlin-friendly parties, Yevgeny Roizman cuts an odd figure.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking at a youth forum "Russia, Land of Opportunity" in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool)

Putin meets with young scientists days before Russian vote

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin met Thursday with young scientists and entrepreneurs, promising to encourage new talent three days before the presidential vote he is certain to win.

In this photo taken on Friday, March 9, 2018, Stepan Mihailov, 19, linguistics student at higher school of economics, poses for a photo in Moscow, Russia. "I don't think I have a single friend who thinks that Putin is good. I think he is an evil character who only takes care of himself and his inner circle," Stepan says. (AP Photo/Francesca Ebel)

Breaking mold, some Russian youth speak out against Putin

MOSCOW (AP) — When Stepan Mikhailov, a 19-year-old linguistics student, talks about his lifetime spent under Russian President Vladimir Putin, a troubled look passes over his face.

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 6, 2018 file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to employees of Uralvagonzavod factory in Nizhny Tagil, Russia. President Vladimir Putin seems self-assured and confident of victory in the election on Sunday, March 18, even as the Kremlin works hard to bolster turnout to make the result as impressive as possible. Unlike the 2012 balloting when he often looked tense and nervous amid massive protests of his rule, Putin faces no such threats this time, despite an anemic economy and spiraling tensions with the West. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

The Latest: Vote monitoring group warns of interference

5:15 p.m.

FILE - In this Friday, Jan. 12, 2018 file photo, The Communist Party's candidate for the 2018 Russian presidential election Pavel Grudinin shows his candidate's ID to the media at the Russia Central Election commission in Moscow, Russia. Grudinin, a millionaire strawberry farm director, caters to Communist supporters who crave Soviet-era stability and social benefits. President Vladimir Putin seems self-assured and confident of victory in the election on Sunday, March 18, even as the Kremlin works hard to bolster turnout to make the result as impressive as possible. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

A self-assured Putin seems confident of electoral victory

NIZHNY TAGIL, Russia (AP) — Vladimir Putin walks briskly to a group of factory workers, who ask him for a water treatment facility, new equipment to reduce toxic emissions and a sports arena for their children in this Ural mountains city.