(Moscow) In school No. 1500 in Moscow, dozens of residents flocked Friday morning to place their ballots in the ballot box. Most claim to be supporters of “stability” and therefore vote for Vladimir Putin.
On the first of three days of presidential voting, in the absence of any opposition and in the midst of the conflict triggered in Ukraine by the Kremlin, voters like Lioudmila, a 70-year-old retiree, expressed their full support for the Russian president.
Above all, she wants “victory” over Ukraine, a conflict which has lasted for more than two years and today with no real prospect of an end. However, according to her, the solution lies with Vladimir Putin.
“It’s important (to vote), for the lives of my children, my grandchildren, for the future of Russia,” she argues.
In the gymnasium set up for the occasion, voters can choose to place their paper ballot in the ballot box or vote at an electronic terminal.
Outside, in front of the yellow and white school building, Natan, a 72-year-old retired construction worker, speaks of “a bright future”. And this therefore passes through the man who has ruled Russia for 24 years.
Natan says he wants “an increase in jobs, to work so that there is no war, stability in the country and that the people know in which direction they are going”.
“May everything be okay”
However, Russia is under international sanctions, the entire economy is focused on the military effort and the conflict seems likely to last.
“There is no alternative to (Putin) currently,” also advocates Valentina, 75, who assures that she “loves” her president.
This year, only three candidates, without scope or program, were authorized to participate in the presidential election against the master of the Kremlin. None of them oppose the offensive in Ukraine or the repression that has decimated the opposition, whose leaders are dead, in prison or in exile.
A leading figure of Kremlin critics, Alexeï Navalny, behind bars since 2021, died in mid-February in a penal colony in the Arctic at the age of 47. An assassination according to his relatives, a natural death according to the authorities.
As for the Kremlin, it continues to insist that the patriotic duty of Russians is to remain “united” behind their president and his ambitions.
Despite an economy which has quickly adapted to the military effort, difficulties remain numerous, between inflation, shortages on the labor market and considerable demographic problems further aggravated by the exile of hundreds of thousands of Russians and the fighting in Ukraine.
“It’s the economic stability of the country that matters to me,” assures Mikhaïl, a young 22-year-old student in the first year of a master’s degree in agronomy.
“We want everything to go well in all aspects of life: social, economic and commercial,” says the young man. Without revealing whether he voted for the master of the country.