Russia votes in election that will give Putin six more years in power

Vladimir Putin is expected to extend his mandate until 2030, with the Kremlin aiming for a demonstration of mass support. Only eight political parties dared to present candidates out of the 25 permitted in Russia. The election, which started on March 15 and will last for three days across the country's 11 time zones, is almost certain to result in Putin winning another six-year term. This comes after crackdowns on dissent following the death of Putin's fiercest critic, Alexey Navalny. Putin has been in power since 1999 and is poised to win a fifth term with a reported 82% of the votes according to state-backed polling agencies. Boris Nadezhdin and Yekaterina Duntsova were among the candidates who were not allowed to run. Independent election watchdogs have previously reported widespread fraud in Putin's previous elections.