Putin eyes fourth term in prez polls as opposition cries foul

The Kremlin needs high voter numbers to give greater legitimacy to a new mandate for Putin as Russia faces increasing isolation over a spy poisoning in Britain and a fresh round of US sanctions.

Putin is running against seven other candidates, but his main challenger Alexei Navalny has been barred for legal reasons and the outcome is in little doubt. About 107 million Russians are eligible to cast ballots, but some analysts say that after 18 years of Putin's leadership –both as president and prime minister –fatigue may be setting in.

Turnout was nearly 52 per cent by 1400 GMT, electoral officials said.

But Navalny charged that the poll has been staged and voter numbers rigged.

Since first being elected president in 2000, Putin has stamped his total authority on the world's biggest country, muzzling opposition, putting television under state control and reasserting Moscow's standing abroad.

The 65-year-old former KGB officer has sought to use the campaign to emphasise Russia's role as a major world power, boasting of its "invincible" new nuclear weapons in a pre-election speech.

Casting his ballot in Moscow, Putin said he would be pleased with any result giving him the right to continue as president. "I am sure the programme I am offering is the right one," said the man who is already Russia's longest-serving leader since Stalin.

Most people who spoke to AFP said they voted for Putin, praising him for lifting the country out of the post-Soviet quagmire. "Of course I'm for Putin, he's a leader," said Olga Matyunina, a 65-year-old retired economist.

"After he brought Crimea back, he became a hero to me."

Sunday marks four years since Putin signed a treaty declaring Crimea to be part of Russia in a move that triggered a pro-Kremlin insurgency in east Ukraine, a conflict that has claimed over 10,000 lives.

At many polling stations the atmosphere was festive, with patriotic songs blasting out of speakers, cheap food available to voters and entertainers organising games for children.

But Navalny, who risks 30 days in jail for organising illegal protests, urged a boycott.

"We do not recognise these elections," he said, claiming turnout was being rigged.

Navalny has deployed more than 33,000 observers, with his team branding the vote "a staged procedure to reappoint Putin". "Those who said there would be fewer falsifications during these elections because Putin has already won over everyone have made a mistake."

Navalny's team and non-government election monitor Golos reported ballot stuffing and multiple voting, with voters also being bussed to polling booths against the law.