Putin threatens World War 3 as he declares victory in sham election

Ukraine‘s air defence systems destroyed 17 out of 22 Russia-launched drones overnight, Ukraine‘s air force said on Monday.

The air force said on the Telegram messaging app that in addition to the attack drones, Russia also launched seven missiles at Ukraine.

It was not immediately clear what happened to the missiles and the drones that were not destroyed.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has once again threatened the West against entering into a direct conflict with Moscow, saying a fight between Russia and Nato would mean the planet was one step away from World War Three.

The Ukraine war has triggered the deepest crisis in Moscow’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Mr Putin has often warned of the risks of nuclear war but says he has never felt the need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

French president Emmanuel Macron last month said he could not rule out the deployment of ground troops in Ukraine in the future, with many Western countries distancing themselves from that while others, especially in eastern Europe, expressed support.

Asked by Reuters about the Macron remarks and the risks and possibility of a conflict between Russia and Nato, Mr Putin quipped: “Everything is possible in the modern world.”

“It is clear to everyone, that this will be one step away from a full-scale World War Three. I think hardly anyone is interested in this,” Mr Putin told reporters after claiming the biggest ever landslide in post-Soviet Russian history.

Mr Putin added, though, that Nato military personnel were present already in Ukraine, saying that Russia had picked up both English and French being spoken on the battlefield.

“There is nothing good in this, first of all for them, because they are dying there and in large numbers,” he claimed.

Askold Krushelnycky reports from Pavlohrad, southeastern Ukraine, where the latest in a number of convoys of vehicles and supplies is handed over to help Kyiv’s forces defend against Russia’s invasion

A decade ago, president Vladimir Putin seized Crimea from Ukraine, a bold land grab that set the stage for Russia to invade its neighbor in 2022.

The quick and bloodless seizure of the diamond-shaped peninsula, home to Russia’s Black Sea fleet and a popular vacation site, touched off a wave of patriotism and sent Mr Putin’s popularity soaring. “Crimea is ours!” became a popular slogan in Russia.

Now that Mr Putin has been anointed to another six-year term as president, he is determined to extend his gains in Ukraine amid Russia’s battlefield successes and waning Western support for Kyiv.

The opposition’s call to protest against Vladimir Putin had been successful, claimed Ivan Zhdanov, the head of the Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, as protesters lined up outside Russia’s diplomatic missions in London, Berlin, Paris, Milan, Belgrade and other cities with large Russian communities.

Protesters in Berlin displayed a figure of Mr Putin bathing in blood with the Ukrainian flag on the side, alongside shredded ballots in ballot boxes.Russian state television and officials said the lines abroad showed strong turnout.

In Tallinn, where hundreds stood in a line snaking around the Estonian capital’s cobbled streets leading to the Russian Embassy, 23-year-old Tatiana said she came to take part in the protest.“If we have some option to protest I think it’s important to utilize any opportunity,” she said, only giving her first name.

Boris Nadezhdin, a liberal politician who tried to join the race on an anti-war platform but was barred from running by election officials, voiced hope that many Russians cast their ballots against Putin.“I believe that the Russian people today have a chance to show their real attitude to what is happening by voting not for Putin, but for some other candidates or in some other way, which is exactly what I did,” he said after voting in Dolgoprudny, a town just outside Moscow.

Despite tight controls, several dozen cases of vandalism at polling stations were reported across the voting period in Russia.

Several people were arrested, including in Moscow and St Petersburg, after they tried to start fires or set off explosives at polling stations while others were detained for throwing green antiseptic or ink into ballot boxes.

The OVD-Info group that monitors political arrests said that 80 people were arrested in 20 cities across Russia yesterday.

Stanislav Andreychuk, co-chair of the Golos independent election watchdog, said that pressure on voters from law enforcement had reached unprecedented levels.

Russians, he said in a social media post, were searched when entering polling stations, there were attempts to check filled-out ballots before they were cast, and one report said police demanded a ballot box be opened to remove a ballot.

“It’s the first time in my life that I’ve seen such absurdities,” Mr Andreychuk wrote on the messaging app Telegram, adding that he started monitoring elections in Russia 20 years ago.

Supporters of Alexei Navalny streamed to his grave in Moscow, some bringing ballots with his name written on them.

Meduza, Russia’s biggest independent news outlet, published photos of ballots it received from their readers, with “killer” inscribed on one, “thief” on another and “The Hague awaits you” on yet another.

The last refers to an arrest warrant for Putin from the International Criminal Court that accuses him of personal responsibility for abductions of children from Ukraine.

Some people told the AP that they were happy to vote for Mr Putin — unsurprising in a country where independent media have been hobbled, state TV airs a drumbeat of praise for the Russian leader and voicing any other opinion is risky.

Dmitry Sergienko, who cast his ballot in Moscow, said, “I am happy with everything and want everything to continue as it is now.”

“As for Mr Navalny,” Mr Putin said, “Yes, he passed away. This is always a sad event.”

Read more on what he said about Navalny in this report from my colleague Tom Watling:

Vladimir Putin dismissed the effectiveness of the “Noon against Putin” protest as he claimed victory in Russia’s sham presidential election on Sunday.“There were calls to come vote at noon.

And this was supposed to be a manifestation of opposition. Well, if there were calls to come vote, then … I praise this,” he said at a news conference after polls closed.

Some Russians waiting to vote in Moscow and St Petersburg told the Associated Press that they were taking part in the protest, but it wasn’t possible to confirm whether all of those in line were doing so.

One woman in Moscow, who said her name was Yulia, told the AP that she was voting for the first time.

“Even if my vote doesn’t change anything, my conscience will be clear … for the future that I want to see for our country,” she said. Like others, she didn’t give her full name because of security concerns.

Another Moscow voter, who also identified himself only by his first name, Vadim, said he hoped for change, but added that “unfortunately, it’s unlikely.”