New ground attacks and waves of drones targeted Russia on Thursday, killing at least two people, a few hours before the opening of polling stations for the presidential election.
Vladimir Putin, for his part, urged his compatriots not to “deviate from the path” during the vote, a barely veiled allusion to his own candidacy.
Armed ground incursions and air raids have increased in recent days, sometimes far from Ukraine, and come as Russians are called to the polls from Friday to Sunday, an election intended to triumphantly return Mr. Putin as president. his country.
The Russian National Guard (Rosgvardia) said Thursday in the middle of the day that it was repelling with the army and border guards the assault of a group of “saboteurs” near the town of Tiotkino, in the Kursk region, bordering Ukraine.
Attacks against this village carried out by units from Ukraine and claiming to be composed of Russians opposed to the Kremlin had already taken place on Tuesday. Moscow then assured that the attackers had been decimated.
The “Freedom of Russia Legion,” one of the groups behind previous armed ground incursions, called Thursday for the evacuation of civilians in the area and promised to “liberate the Russian regions” of Belgorod — also bordering Russia. Ukraine — and Kursk.
A representative of this group, Alexei Baranovski, told Ukrainian television that “intense fighting” continued and was concentrated not only around Tiotkino but also Graivoron, in the Belgorod region.
The Russian military released an undated and unverified video on Thursday purporting to show the destruction of forces attempting to infiltrate Belgorod Oblast.
“Difficult times”
At the same time, drone attacks are increasing in Russian border regions but also hundreds of kilometers from the front, kyiv having promised retaliation for the bombings that Ukraine has been suffering for more than two years.
The Belgorod oblast and its capital of the same name are particularly targeted. On Thursday, two civilians died and at least 19 others were injured, its governor said, after three drone attacks during the day.
Regional authorities have announced that they will temporarily close shopping centers to avoid new victims.
In this tense context, Vladimir Putin, in power for 24 years, judged Thursday that we should not “turn away from the path” and vote to express a “patriotic” position and “confirm our unity and determination to move forward.” Before “.
The outgoing head of state will face three candidates without scope who oppose neither the Ukrainian offensive nor the repression which has eradicated all opposition, and culminated with the death in prison in mid-February of the main detractor of the Kremlin, Alexei Navalny.
Mr. Putin, who presents the conflict as a war against the West in which Russia is at stake for its survival, spoke of the “difficult times” that the Russians are experiencing, without detailing them.
The Russian economy, under international sanctions, has certainly recovered but it is focused on the war effort, the offensive launched by Moscow having entered its third year while the Kremlin thought it could subdue Ukraine in a few days .
Navalnaya appeal
On the front, Mr. Putin presents recent conquests, in particular the capture of the town of Avdiivka in February, as proof that his military campaign is on the right track, despite significant losses.
Russian forces are advancing step by step in eastern Ukraine, particularly due to the running out of Western aid to Ukraine.
In Brussels, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg estimated on Thursday that the countries of the Atlantic Alliance were not giving “enough ammunition” to kyiv and that this had “consequences every day on the battlefield”. battle “.
Furthermore, for him, “the election in Russia will be neither free nor fair”. Ukrainian diplomacy, for its part, called on the international community to reject the result of this election, which it describes as a “farce”.
The presidential election, which extends over three days, begins with the opening of polling stations in the Far East at 8 a.m. local time on Friday (8 p.m. GMT Thursday) and will end with the closing of those in Kaliningrad, on the Baltic, Sunday at 18:00 GMT.
Critics of the Kremlin, for their part, will not be able to make themselves heard. The only real opponent to have tried to run, Boris Nadejdine, saw his candidacy rejected.
Alexeï Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaïa, who vowed to continue her fight, therefore called on Russians to protest by voting for any of the candidates except Putin.
However, there is no doubt about the election of Vladimir Putin. The vote should allow him to remain in power until 2030. Following a constitutional revision, he will be able to run again and remain in power until 2036, the year he turns 84.