Voting has begun in Russia’s presidential election, which is all but certain to hand Vladimir Putin another six years in power.
Ballots will be cast over three days, even though the result is not in doubt as he has no credible opponent.
Polling stations opened in the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia’s easternmost region, at 08:00 local time on Friday (20:00 GMT on Thursday) and will finally close in the westernmost Kaliningrad exclave at 20:00 on Sunday.
It was at a grand military awards ceremony last December that Vladimir Putin, 71, told the Russian public he would stand for the presidency for a fifth time.
At the solemn event, held in one of the Kremlin’s most opulent halls, Russia’s leader of 24 years had just handed out top honours to soldiers who had taken part in Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.