Russians cast ballots in an election preordained to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule

Voters across Russia cast ballots Saturday on the second day of an election set to formalize six more years of power for President Vladimir Putin, who faces no serious challengers after crushing political dissent over his nearly quarter-century of rule.

The election comes against the backdrop of a ruthless crackdown that has stifled independent media and prominent rights groups. Putin’s fiercest foe, Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic prison in February, and other critics are either in jail or in exile.

The 71-year-old Putin faces three token rivals from Kremlin-friendly parties who have refrained from any criticism of him or his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Putin has cast his war in Ukraine, now in its third year, as an existential battle against the U.S. and other Western powers bent on destroying Russia.

Officials said voting was proceeding in an orderly fashion. But despite tight controls, at least a half-dozen cases of vandalism at polling stations were reported Friday and Saturday, including a firebombing and several people pouring green liquid into ballot boxes.

The latter was an apparent homage to Navalny, who in 2017 was attacked by an assailant who splashed green disinfectant in his face.

A 50-year-old university professor was arrested Saturday after she unsuccessfully tried to throw green liquid into a ballot box in the Urals city of Ekaterinburg. She was imprisoned for 15 days for “petty hooliganism,” but could face further charges, according to local news outlet Ura.ru. A pensioner in the Altai region in southern Siberia was also detained after attempting to damage ballots, Russia’s state news agency Tass reported.

In Podolsk, a town close to Moscow, a woman was detained by police Saturday after she spoiled her ballot by writing an unspecified message, said OVD-Info, a police monitoring group that provides legal aid. She was charged with “discrediting the Russian army” and fined 30,000 rubles ($342).

Russian lawmakers have suggested introducing a new law to punish election saboteurs with sentences of up to eight years in prison.

Meanwhile, a video released on social media by Russian election monitoring group Golos appeared to show staff at a polling station in the southern city of Krasnodar stuffing multiple voting slips into ballot boxes.

Also Saturday, Ukrainian drone and missile attacks once again hit deep inside the country. Tass said an armed group also tried to penetrate Russia’s border region from Ukraine.

Two people were killed in Ukrainian shelling of the Russian border city of Belgorod, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram, ordering shopping centers and schools to shut down because of the security situation.