Putin extends his rule in highly orchestrated vote even as Russians quietly protest

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking on a visit to his campaign headquarters after a presidential election in Moscow, Russia, early Monday.Russians crowded outside polling stations at noon Sunday on the last day of a presidential election, apparently heeding an opposition call to protest against President Vladimir Putin in a vote that offered them no real alternatives after he ruthlessly cracked down on dissent.

In a tightly controlled environment with little room for real protest, Navalny's associates urged those unhappy with Putin or the war to go to the polls at noon on Sunday — and lines outside a number of polling stations both inside Russia and at its embassies around the world appeared to swell at that time.Voters queue at a polling station in Moscow on Sunday.

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

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

Beyond Russia, huge lines also formed around noon outside diplomatic missions in London, Berlin, Paris, Milan, Belgrade and other cities with large Russian communities, many of whom left home after Putin's invasion of Ukraine.People hold sheets reading"enough" as they protest in downtown Tbilisi, Georgia, on Sunday.

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