Politics
22:05, 18-Mar-2018
CGTN on the scene: Russians head to polls to vote in presidential election
["europe"]
Share
Copied
Russians headed to the polls to vote in a presidential election.
Due to time difference, voting started in Chukotka Peninsula and will end in the far west Kaliningrad enclave.
About 108 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots in almost 100,000 voting stations across the country. Based on opinion polls, a landslide victory for incumbent president Vladimir Putin is to be expected, giving him his fourth term in office.
Communist leader Pavel Grudinin comes second, expecting to get just seven percent of the votes; while Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the enfant terrible of Russian politics, runs third with 5-6 percent of the votes.
Official results of the votes are expected to be announced sometime around 3 a.m. on Monday, Moscow time.