Putin's election candidates abandoned pro-war slogans for fear of losing votes

Vladimir Putin votes online in the Moscow mayoral elections Photo: Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin pool Photo via AP

Vladimir Putin's candidates for the Russia's regional elections abandoned pro-war slogans for fear of losing votes.

Instead, United Russia candidates in the gubernatorial, mayoral, deputy and local assembly elections campaigned on slogans emphasizing unity and duty.

Even Putin, who voted online on Saturday, avoided mentioning the invasion of Ukraine during a 90-second video meant to encourage Russians to vote.

“I count on each of you to exercise responsible citizenship,” he said. , before turning to the desktop computer, move the mouse up and down and press the left mouse button. Putin then smiled at the camera before it cut to a shot of his computer screen congratulating him on his vote.

This awkward voting video appears to be the Kremlin's response to opinion polls that show its invasion of Ukraine is losing. popularity.

A poll released this week showed that 38 percent of Russians “definitely” support the war, up from 48 percent in February.

“Bring our boys home!”

This frustration with the war has seeped into the election, with photographs published on the social network Telegram showing some voters expressing their opposition to the war on their ballots. Public protests against the war are prohibited.

“Bring our conscripts home if your word means anything,” someone wrote on a ballot paper in the Kemerovo region in Siberia.

In Voronezh in southwest Russia, a ballot paper was defaced with the message: “ Bring our guys home!”

And in the Omsk region someone wrote: “This is not an election, this is a lie!!!”

Ukrainian drones now regularly strike Moscow and other Russian cities, the Russian economy has shrunk and hundreds of thousands of people have been mobilized, undermining Kremlin claims that its invasion will not affect ordinary Russians.

United Russia Political Party Putin earlier this year advised her candidates to campaign heavily on the war, but has since abandoned that advice. He controls most of the positions of governors and mayors in Russia, as well as local assemblies, with some exceptions.

Analysts say the only truly competitive elections are in Khakassia, a remote region of Siberia where a Communist Party candidate unexpectedly became governor in 2019 amid frustration over the Kremlin raising the retirement age.

The Kremlin planned to overthrow him with the help of a pro-war insider, but the plan failed and his candidate pulled out.

Elections are also being held in parts of Ukraine that the Kremlin seized and annexed last year.

He wants to legitimize annexation of regions in a popular show of support, but reports say there is widespread fraud and that people are bribed to vote with promises of food or threatened into voting.

The West has called elections in occupied Ukraine a sham.

< p>The West called the elections in occupied Ukraine a sham.

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“This is nothing more than a propaganda event,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Voting ends on Sunday, and results are expected on Monday.