More Activists Detained
Current Time TV reports that four more opposition activists have been detained, with at least one detention reportedly playing out more like an abduction from a Liam Neeson film.
Blast From The Past
With President Putin all but assured of a fourth presidential term, some archivists thought it was a good time to remind us of the momentous events of August 9, 1999, when then-President Boris Yeltsin named Putin as his successor, saying he was the only person "capable of uniting the country."
Here are those events, as reported by the then-independent NTV television channel, when moderators felt obligated to tell audiences who Putin was.
Russian Elections 101: The Formalities
The latest video in RFE/RL's ongoing series of quick primers on the March 18 vote. This one's on the mundane elements of the process that critics say are aimed at lending the appearance of a competitive process to a foregone conclusion.
- By Mike Eckel
Putin Videos 'Not A Violation Because We Don't Regulate The Web'
There have been a spate of Vladimir Putin videos and documentaries popping up on social media in recent weeks, including Facebook, VK, and Odnoklassniki. Andrei Kondrashov’s two-hour documentary released over the weekend is only the latest example.
All those videos, however, are prompting complaints from some Russians, saying it amounts to free campaign advertising for the incumbent, in violation of Russian election law.
Not so, says the head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, because Russian election law does not regulate the Internet. “We will think about the future after the election. But for now, whether you like the law or not, whether it is good or bad, we are acting in strict accordance with it,” Pamfilova was quoted by Interfax as saying. “This is not a violation, because we don’t regulate the Internet.”
Tatars For Putin
The Kremlin-friendly World Congress of Tatars has officially endorsed incumbent President Putin.
"Many centuries connect Tatars with Russia," the organization's March 12 statement says, "which has been and remains for the majority of us our homeland."
"Through the most difficult times we demonstrated our loyalty to Russia," it continues. "Today, when many do not like the increasing power of our country, it is particularly necessary to show unity and togetherness. Only such a Russia can be the guarantor of the development of our people. The Tatar nation connects its future with our national leader, Vladimir Putin. We call on all our countrymen to participate actively in the voting and to support the political course of the current president of the country. We are for a strong Russia, for a strong president, for Putin."
Making up nearly 4 percent of the population, Tatars form the largest minority ethnic group in Russia. Many activists say the Kremlin has long pursued policies to Russify the Tatars, creating difficulties for the spread of the Tatar language. According to Russian census figures, the number of people who speak Tatar in Russia fell by just over 1 million between 2002 and 2010.
- By Mike Eckel
Election Will Be Watched For 'Any Signs Of Weakness'
Timothy Frye, a longtime Russia watcher and chairman of Columbia University’s Department of Political Science, shares the consensus that Vladimir Putin’s reelection on March 18 is a foregone conclusion. He cites "ballot-box stuffing, voter intimidation, and dirty tricks against the opposition," among other factors.
But the essential purpose of the vote, Frye argues in a "5 Questions" piece, is not to decide a leader, but rather “they provide a rare public signal of the relative strength of Putin, and potential challengers among the elite and the public.”
“Those in Russia who might challenge Putin’s rule will scrutinize the election results for signs of weakness,” he says.
And that will add to the other most important outcome of the vote: Who might succeed Putin in six years’ time?
Dozhd TV quotes Vladimir Putin's spokesman as confirming that the shoo-in incumbent president's last trip to "the regions" before the March 18 election will be a March 14 trip to Crimea, which Russia invaded and then annexed from Ukraine four years to the day before th looming election.
The station quotes sources as saying that while there will be a number of rallies there, the biggest will be in the port city of Sevastopol, home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet.
Earlier rumors suggested Putin might cast his ballot in Crimea. The United Nations voted overwhelmingly after the 2014 seizure that Crimea remained part of Ukraine.
Generation Putin
The BBC's Russian Service has issued the first video of a series of interviews with 18-year-old Russians -- those who are eligible to go to the polls for the first time on March 18 and who have lived their whole lives in the shadow of Vladimir Putin's national leadership.
In the first clip, Zhenya Akulov of St. Petersburg tells of one of his earliest memories, in which his mother encouraged him to eat up his food by pointing to Putin's portrait and saying, "Eat -- Uncle Volodya is watching you!"
Akulov says he will only decide whether to vote once election day itself rolls around.
In A Nutshell
Handy AFP infographic on the bare-bones outline of President Vladimir Putin's career so far.