Residents of Russia’s Far East have begun voting in presidential elections expected to give Vladimir Putin another unopposed term as Ukraine, under two years of Russian aggression, steps up attacks from across the country. country.

Polling stations opened at 08:00 (Friday local time) (22:00 Greek time on Thursday) in the Kamchatka Peninsula and Chukotka, two remote regions on Russia’s eastern edge, and will close on Sunday at 20:00 in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave bordering with territories of EU member countries.

Due to the time difference, residents of the Far East start voting at the same time that residents of the western part of this country with 11 time zones are getting ready to go to bed.

Voting will take place over three days, in both the Russian-held territories of Ukraine and Transnistria, a pro-Russian territory that broke away from Moldova.

Shortly before voting began, Vladimir Putin, who has been in power for the past 24 years, called on his countrymen not to “deviate from the path” and vote “patriotically” in these “difficult” times.

The outgoing head of state will face three minor candidates who oppose neither the attack on Ukraine nor the crackdown that wiped out all opposition and culminated in the prison death in mid-February of the Kremlin’s main opponent, Alexei Navalny.

The only political opponent who attempted to run, Boris Nadezdin, was excluded from the election as his candidacy was rejected.