Putin opponents condemn Russia regional elections as farce
Polls have opened in regional elections in Russia, which opposition activists say are a farce, after hundreds of anti-war candidates were barred from running.
Ballots are being held in almost every part of the country at various different levels, from local councils to regional governors.
But only a handful of races will feature a candidate from Yabloko, the only political party in Russia that opposes the war in Ukraine.
Graffiti reading ‘no to war’ in Moscow
The party says it put forward around 350 candidates in total but that only 65 were allowed on the ballot after authorities found irregularities with their paperwork.
“Right now, the authorities want deputies at all levels to be as loyal as possible,” Maria Chuprina, one of Yabloko’s barred candidates, told Sky News.
“Such is the current federal agenda, there shouldn’t be anything that reminds us that Russia is in conflict.”
Maria Chuprina, from the Yabloko party, campaigning
Ms Chuprina attempted to run for a seat in the Moscow City Duma and was required to gather thousands of signatures of support to register her candidacy.
But despite meeting the benchmark, her application was rejected on the basis that it wasn’t filled out correctly.
Some supporters’ details supposedly contained commas and full stops in the wrong place.
“If someone wrote their address differently to how it’s written in their passport, then their signature was considered invalid, even if it was written by a real person,” she said.
“For example, the passport says Number 15, but they wrote No.15, then it’s invalid.”
Ms Chuprina appealed against the decision in court but a judge ruled against her.
“The huge number of documents [that candidates must submit] allows them to come up with any reason they want,” she said.
“This is solely a protective measure so authorities can decide who is allowed on the ballot and who isn’t.”
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Yabloko’s slogan “Za Mir i Svobodu” translates as “For Peace and Freedom”. A second line calls for a ceasefire.
The mere utterance of such words in Russia can result in a prison sentence – there have been countless examples since the start of the war in Ukraine.
So why are some still willing to take the risk?
A military enlistment stand at a metro station in Moscow
“There’s no other way for us,” Nikolay Rybakov, Yabloko’s leader, told Sky News.
“We are on a big train but this train is on the way to catastrophe. We need to stop this train.”
By contrast, the Communist Party, which is portrayed as an opposition group, has been allowed to register more than 3,000 candidates.
But then again, the party supports both the war in Ukraine and Vladimir Putin.
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Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov at a campaign event in central Moscow
“He’s on the same level as King Arthur and the Round Table,” said Roman Ustyuzhanin, a Communist Party candidate in Moscow, when asked how Russia’s president compares with other leaders.
“A personality on a par with Peter the Great. But not Napoleon, Putin is bigger,” he added.
With opposition like that, there’s no need for the Kremlin to worry – the results are a foregone conclusion.
This is the highest stakes diplomacy via social media.
The American president just posted on his Truth Social platform: “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding.
“He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers.
“Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Israel-Iran live: Trump says US knows where Iran’s supreme leader is ‘hiding’
It was followed minutes later by “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
In real-time, we are witnessing Donald Trump’s extreme version of maximum pressure diplomacy.
He’d probably call it the ‘art of the deal’, but bunker busters are the tool, and it comes with such huge consequences, intended and unintended, known and unknown.
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The bunker buster bomb which could destroy Iran’s nuclear ambitions
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Nuclear sites targeted in Iran
There is intentional ambiguity in the president’s messaging. His assumption is that he can apply his ‘art of the deal’ strategy to a deeply ideological geopolitical challenge.
It’s all playing out publicly. Overnight, the New York Times, via two of its best-sourced reporters, had been told that Mr Trump is weighing whether to use B-2 aircraft to drop bunker-busting bombs on Iran’s underground nuclear facilities.
Meanwhile, Axios was reporting that a meeting is possible between Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.
The reporting came just as Mr Trump warned “everyone in Tehran to evacuate”. The nuclear sites being threatened with bunker busters are not in Tehran, but Trump’s words are designed to stoke tension, to confuse and to apply intense pressure.
His actions are too. He left the G7 in Canada early and asked his teams to gather in the White House Situation Room.
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Trump: ‘I want an end, not a ceasefire’
This is a game of smoke, mirrors, brinkmanship and – maybe – bluff. In Tehran, what’s left of the leadership is watching and reading closely as they consider what’s next.
Maybe the Supreme Leader and his regime’s days are numbered. Things remain very unpredictable.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
From history, though, regime change, even when it comes with a plan – and there is certainly not one here, spells civil war and from that comes a refugee crisis.
These are truly tense and chaotic times.
World
Ukraine war: 14 killed as Russian missile and drone attacks strike Kyiv – including American citizen
Russian missile and drone attacks have killed 14 people in Kyiv overnight, according to Ukrainian officials.
A 62-year-old US citizen who suffered shrapnel wounds is among the dead.
At least 99 others were wounded in strikes that hollowed out a residential building and destroyed dozens of apartments.
Pic: AP
Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble.
Images show a firefighter was among those hurt, with injured residents evacuated from their homes.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “one of the most terrifying attacks on Kyiv” – and said Russian forces had fired 440 drones and 32 missiles as civilians slept in their homes.
“[Putin] wants the war to go on,” he said. “It is troubling when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to it.”
Pic: AP
Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said 27 locations across the capital have been hit – including educational institutions and critical infrastructure.
He claimed the attack, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, was one of the largest on the capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Drones swarmed over the city, with an air raid alert remaining in force for seven hours.
One person was killed and 17 others injured as a result of separate Russian drone strikes in the port city of Odesa.
Pic: Reuters
It comes as the G7 summit in Canada continues, which Ukraine’s leader is expected to attend.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold talks with Donald Trump – but the president has announced he is unexpectedly returning to Washington because of tensions in the Middle East.
Ukraine’s foreign minister says Moscow’s decision to attack Kyiv during the summit is a signal of disrespect to the US.
Moscow has launched a record number of drones and missiles in recent weeks, and says the attacks are in retaliation for a Ukrainian operation that targeted warplanes in airbases deep within Russian territory.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko says fires broke out in two of the city’s districts as a result of debris from drones shot down by the nation’s air defences.
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Pic: AP
On X, Ukraine’s foreign ministry wrote: “Russia’s campaign of terror against civilians continues. Its war against Ukraine escalates with increased brutality.
“The only way to stop Russia is tighter pressure – through sanctions, more defence support for Ukraine, and limiting Russia’s ability to keep sowing war.”
Olena Lapyshnak, who lived in one of the destroyed buildings, said: “It’s horrible, it’s scary, in one moment there is no life. I can only curse the Russians, that’s all I can say. They shouldn’t exist in this world.”
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