Moscow, Mar. 15, (dpa/GNA) – Russian voters were hitting the polls on Friday morning as a three-day presidential election that is all but certain to deliver Vladimir Putin another six-year term in power kicked off without any real competition.

Voting began in the world’s largest country by area when polling stations opened in the Russian far east.

The election in the country that stretches across 11 time zones will last until Sunday evening, when the last polling stations close in Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea at 8 pm (1800 GMT).

The first forecasts are expected immediately afterwards.

Russian state pollsters have already predicted that 71-year-old Putin, who has been in power for almost a quarter of a century and is seeking a fifth term in office, will receive more than 80% of the vote. That would be the highest result ever for him.

Putin has three rivals, which offers the election a veneer of credibility. But they not only have no chance, they also hold Kremlin-friendly political views and usually show support for Putin.

Candidates who spoke out against Putin’s war in Ukraine were not allowed to run.

Election observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) have not been invited to monitor the polls.

Moscow puts the number of eligible voters in Russia at 112 million – but this figure actually includes 4.5 million people in the occupied parts of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson. In addition, 2 million Russians living in other countries are entitled to vote.

GNA