Wearing a leopard print silk headscarf, 23-year-old Nadezhda, a Russian ballerina, walks away from the screen of a polling station in Moscow. She has just voted in the presidential election, for the first time in her life but without the slightest enthusiasm.

Like the majority of observers, he believes that these elections do not hold any surprises. Vladimir Putin will be elected for sure, in the absence of an opponent.

The Russian president has been in power for 24 years, before Nadezhda was even born.

“Around me, everyone is used to the idea that everything has already been decided for us, there is nothing we can do. It’s all kind of fake. The fact that I’m here doesn’t change anything,” said the young woman, declining to give her last name.

But if she didn’t go to vote, she would be in “problems” with her employer, she explained.

A member of the electoral commission accompanied her to the screen, explaining to her how to vote. “I chose the obvious,” she told AFP, referring to the outgoing president. Three other candidates were allowed to run in this election, but none of them disagree with the Kremlin’s policies, the war in Ukraine or the suppression of any dissenting voice.

However, Nadezhda prefers not to invest much in politics. “When I start to get interested, I don’t feel good,” she said, declaring she was “very affected by what’s going on.”

As the polls opened today, the credibility of the presidential election was questioned abroad, from Washington to Brussels. Moscow, which rejects the criticism, says it has accredited 300,000 observers. Among them is Faizrahman Kasenov, a counselor at the embassy of Kazakhstan, a country allied to Russia, who assured that he did not see any irregularity. These elections, he said, mark the beginning of “a new political cycle” since Putin has “major” plans for Russia.

The first day of the election was marked by minor incidents in some polling stations, with an as yet unknown motive.

At the Mechanxi polling station, however, everything was calm at noon. Alexandra Savina, 78, said she was “happy to be alive to see Putin re-elected”. “Everything he says, he does,” said Savina, who faithfully watches Russian news channels, where the president is omnipresent.

For Alexandra Shvina, the West is trying to “weaken Russia”. She also expressed disappointment with what French President Emmanuel Macron said, who reiterated his support for Ukraine.

“We want the victory”

Lyudmila, who spoke a little earlier to AFP at School 1500 in Moscow, also says she wants “the victory” of her country in Ukraine. The war has been going on for two years and there is no prospect of an end in sight. For Lyudmila, the solution lies in Putin’s hands. “It is important (to vote) for the lives of my children, my grandchildren, for the future of Russia,” he said.

Nathan, 72, sings the praises of “stability.” The retired builder says he wants “more jobs” but also “no war”. He also believes that Putin can provide a “bright future” for the country.

“What interests me is financial stability,” commented Michael, a 22-year-old agricultural student. “We wish everything goes well in all areas of life: social, economic and commercial,” he added, without revealing whether he voted for Putin.