Turnout exceeds 50 percent on the second day of elections in Russia

The first results regarding the election will begin to be released starting from 21:00 Moscow time on March 17.

Ella Pamfilova, Chair of the Russian Central Election Commission, reported that in 20 federal regions, some individuals attempted to damage ballot papers by pouring liquid into 29 ballot boxes, and there were also attempts to set fire to 8 ballot boxes.

Sharing information that cyberattacks were carried out against the remote electronic voting system and the Central Election Commission's website, Pamfilova said, "Since the beginning of the voting, 160,000 attacks on remote electronic voting resources have been blocked. The main attacks were directed at the voting portal, with 130,000 attacks occurring there. Nearly 30,000 attacks were also made on the remote electronic voting monitoring portal."

Pamfilova stated that 18,000 cyberattacks have been carried out against the Central Election Commission's website since March 15.

UKRAINIAN ATTACKS ON RUSSIA'S SOUTHERN REGION

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova, recalling that Ukraine has carried out attacks on the Russian city of Belgorod, said, "Today, they hit Belgorod again to disrupt the voting and intimidate people."

The Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out attacks on 7 of the 21 cities in the Belgorod region in southern Russia on March 15 and 16. In the attacks by the Ukrainian army using artillery, mortars, and unmanned aerial vehicles, 2 people lost their lives and 19 people were injured in the region.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin also used the remote electronic voting system in the presidential election.

There are 112 million 309 thousand 947 registered voters within the country, 1 million 890 thousand 863 at Russia's diplomatic missions abroad, and 11 thousand 924 at the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The elections are being held both at polling stations and via remote electronic means. The remote voting process is being carried out in 29 regions, including Moscow.

Voters are also heading to the polls for the presidential election in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions, which it annexed in 2022.

In the election where 4 candidates are competing for the presidential seat, incumbent President Vladimir Putin is running as an independent candidate with the support of the United Russia Party.

Liberal Democratic Party leader Leonid Slutskiy for his own party, Nikolay Kharitonov for the Communist Party, and Vladislav Davankov for the New People Party have taken their places on the ballot as candidates.