Summary

  • Vladimir Putin has addressed thousands of people in Moscow's Red Square, after claiming a landslide election win

  • The Moscow rally is to mark the 10th anniversary of Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea - Putin says it has "returned to its home harbour"

  • On Sunday, Vladimir Putin won a fifth term as Russian president by a landslide of 87%

  • He faced no credible opposition as the Kremlin tightly controls Russia's political system, media and elections

  • Germany called it a "pseudo-election", while the US said the vote is "obviously not free nor fair"

  • But China, India, Iran, and North Korea backed the result - with the Indian PM Narendra Modi offering "warm congratulations"

Live Reporting

Edited by Adam Durbin and Barbara Tasch

  1. Multiple Ukrainian drone attacks repelled, says Russia

    Slavyansk-on-Kuban in southern RussiaGetty Images

    Slavyansk-on-Kuban in southern Russia was targeted in one of the drone attacks (file image)

    Russia’s defence ministry says its forces have destroyed dozens of drones in several regions across the country as the election continues.

    The biggest attack has happened in the southern region of Krasnodar, where an oil refinery was targeted.

    Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed leader in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, has said today that two Ukrainian drones attacked a polling station - setting the building on fire but causing no deaths or injuries.

    In Ukraine, officials have reported new Russian air strikes on the port city of Odesa.

    Krasnodar authorities also said earlier that 17 drones had been launched against the oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban and had been neutralised, but one sparked the fire as it fell.

    You can read our full story on the drone attacks here.

  2. Increasingly severe media restrictions in Russia

    Putin on a large TV screen.Getty Images

    Since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 nearly all independent media outlets in Russia have shut down, been forced to close, or have left the country to operate from exile.

    Top state-controlled domestic TV channels have cleared their schedules for current affairs programmes spreading anti-Ukrainian, anti-Western material.

    The authorities have also extended their control over the online world and are keen to curb the influence of global internet giants.

    New laws have brought in terms of up to 15 years in prison for spreading "knowingly false" reports about the "special military operation" and the foreign activities of Russian state bodies.

    Read more about Russia's media landscape here.

  3. Analysis

    Stage-managed vote will give Putin another term

    Steve Rosenberg
    BBC Russia editor

    As I walk around Borovsk, two things strike me about this town 60 miles (100km) from Moscow.

    First, there is almost no sign of the presidential election coming up this weekend.

    I see few election banners or billboards and no political flyers being handed out.

    Not surprising, really. The absence of election preparations mirrors the absence of drama surrounding a stage-managed event that will hand Vladimir Putin a fifth term in the Kremlin.

    Vladimir Ovchinnikov walks near his graffiti

    Vladimir Ovchinnikov's street art adorns the walls of Borovsk - except when it becomes too political

    The other thing you can't help noticing in Borovsk is the street art. It's everywhere.

    Much of it has been created by street artist Vladimir Ovchinnikov. All over town his work stares down from walls and buildings.

    Most of his paintings are uncontroversial. Like the giant globe recounting the town's history. Or the image of a famous footballer.

    Increasingly, though, when Vladimir paints a picture of today's Russia, it turns out very dark.

    "I call this one Pinnacle of Ambition," the 86-year-old artist tells me. The painting he's showing me at home features a man in a martial arts uniform walking a tightrope over a mountain of human skulls.

    "This is what the ambition of someone high up in power can lead to,” he adds.

    Continue reading here.

  4. Voting taking place across Russia

    Russian time zones.

    Voting has been taking place across Russia’s 11 time zones.

    In the far east, the furthest away is Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka, where voting has just finished.

    The westernmost point is the enclave of Kaliningrad, where voting will continue until 20:00 local time (18:00 GMT).

    Voting is also taking place in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

    And for the first time votes are being held in parts of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces, which have been placed under Russian law.

  5. Election held one month after Navalny’s death

    Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny addresses supporters during an unauthorised anti-Putin rally on May 5, 2018.KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP

    Last month Russia’s most significant opposition leader for the past decade, Alexei Navalny, died in a penal colony beyond the Arctic Circle.

    Putin's most vociferous critic was serving 19 years on extremism charges that were widely seen as politically motivated.

    According to Russian accounts, on 16 February the 47-year-old took a short walk around the Siberian penal colony he was being imprisoned in, said he felt unwell, then collapsed and never regained consciousness.

    However, Navalny’s family, supporters and much of the international community believe his death was no accident, but instead a punishment for his vocal resistance to Putin. The Kremlin has denied any involvement.

    Most of the Russian president's critics have fled Russia, but Alexei Navalny returned in January 2021, after months of medical treatment.

    In August 2020 he was poisoned at the end of a trip to Siberia with a Novichok nerve agent.

    Read more about what we know of Navalny’s death here.

  6. Hello and welcome

    Jack Burgess
    Live reporter

    This is the last of three days of voting in the presidential election in Russia - an event that is certain to see President Vladimir Putin confirmed in office for a fifth term.

    People across Russia’s 11 time zones have been voting for more than two days and polls will stay open until 8pm local time on Sunday.

    Votes are also taking place in occupied parts of Ukraine now controlled by Russia - as the war against its neighbour continues into its third year. Ukraine has rejected the exercise as illegitimate and residents have spoken pro-Russian collaborators going from house to house with ballot boxes accompanied by armed soldiers.

    Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 and has been at war with Ukraine ever since.

    Even though Putin’s name is not the only one on the ballot, the other three names are not seen as credible candidates.

    The Kremlin has cleared the political landscape, removing any potential challengers to the man who has ruled Russia, as president or prime minister, for nearly a quarter of a century.

    Stay with us as we bring you all the latest lines and analysis from our correspondents in London and on the ground.