‘This is real democracy in action’: Donetsk heads to the ballot box

Sputnik correspondent Russell Bentley (@TXDPR) reports from a polling station in Donetsk and casts his vote in the Russian presidential election.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The overwhelming majority of parliamentarians (451) from Germany's ruling coalition voted in the European Parliament to supply Taurus cruise missiles to Kiev, while 46 were against and 49 abstained, according to Bild.

The resolution stated, among other things, that Ukraine really needs high-tech air defense systems and long-range cruise missiles, “such as Taurus, Storm Shadow and Scalp.” It also mentioned modern combat aircraft, various types of artillery and ammunition, and drones.

Earlier, Mikael Valtersson, a former Swedish Armed Forces officer and the chief of staff of the Sweden Democrats Party, noted that no matter what decision is ultimately made, it won’t change the balance of power on the battlefield. The missiles might “help Ukraine for a short while to avoid losing more ground, but it won’t change the war in the long run,” the observer stressed.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 An American observer of the Russian presidential election in the DPR responded to the West's non-recognition: Voters go to the polling stations with great enthusiasm.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Cyber attacks on Moscow’s information systems are coming from the United States and Great Britain, said the head of the public election monitoring headquarters.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

What are the most popular means of voting at Russia's polling stations? Dr. Marco Marsili explains to Sputnik

"Yesterday about 1300 people voted here in this polling station, of which only 200 with ballot paper and 1100 with electronic voting. This is becoming a more used means for expressing the preference in these elections", Marsili said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 “Everyone has been waiting for this vote for ten years”: A special election unit helps residents of frontline territories that recently joined the Russian Federation to exercise their right to vote in the presidential election.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russians across the world vote in presidential elections

Russian citizens living in foreign countries have an equal and fair chance to vote for their candidate in the 2024 presidential elections.

On March 11, the electoral commission announced that voting will also be available abroad at 295 polling stations in 144 countries.

These voting stations are hosted in Russian embassies, consular offices, centers of compatriots living abroad, or military units.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇷🇺 Russian presidential elections: the second day of voting has come to an end

🗳 The second day of voting in the Russian presidential elections has concluded. Here’s a detailed roundup of the key points from the day:

▪️As of 21:27 Moscow time, turnout sits at 55%.

▪️According to the results of the second day of the elections in Moscow, more than 4.2 million voters have voted so far, the Moscow City Election Commission reports.

▪️More than 6 million Russians have already voted online.

▪️More than 69% of residents have voted so far in the Donetsk Republic. In the Kherson region, more than 68%. In the Zaporozhye region, slightly more than half of the voters cast their votes. In the LPR - about a third of all residents of the republic.

▪️Several WWII veterans voted today: 99-year-old Elena Rozhdestvenskaya cast her vote in Lugansk, while Ibrahim Pasha Sadikov, who turned 100 this year, made his choice in the Russian republic of Dagestan.

🌏 International observers:

🔹"Voters go to the polling stations with great enthusiasm," an American observer of the presidential election in the DPR said.

🔹“No violations,” an observer from Angola notes.

🔹Dr. Marco Marsili explains what are the most popular means of voting at Russia's polling stations

💠 Foreign Ministry statement:

▫️"It will be impossible to clean up the reputation," Maria Zakharova said about the countries that prevent Russian citizens from voting abroad.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

What helped the Russian economy become largest in Europe despite Western sanctions?

The economic sanctions campaign unleased against Russia by the West failed in no small part due to the fact that Western powers vastly overestimated their influence on the global economy, says Dr. Andrei Kolganov, a professor of economics at Moscow State University and chief researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Economics.

Firstly, possessing virtually all the raw materials it needs, Russia also has the means to process them thanks to the country’s significant industrial capacity and considerable research and development capabilities.

“Those who imposed these sanctions wanted to isolate Russia from the supply of critically important products while simultaneously disrupting Russia’s exports – oil, gas, etc. – to foreign markets. This scheme has failed,” Kolganov notes.

Secondly, he also points out that Russia’s military-industrial complex, instead of becoming a burden for the Russian economy, “acts as a catalyst for the advancement of the related industries,” as its growing demand for technological innovations, raw materials and labor also contributes to the Russian economy’s growth.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

▪️Russian presidential elections: the second day of voting has come to an end

▪️The US prepared a large number of fakes on the eve and during the elections, Russian Foreign Ministry states

▪️US observer of Russian presidential elections did not find "occupation" in Kherson region that the Western media write about

▪️Watch North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arriving at a public event for the first time in an Aurus car, presented him by Putin

▪️What helped the Russian economy become largest in Europe despite Western sanctions?

▪️Protesters in France call to withdraw from NATO and halt its intervention in the conflict in Ukraine.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russian aerospace forces destroyed a base of Al-Tanf militants sheltering in Syria's Deir Ez-Zor governorate, Vadim Kulit, deputy head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria, said, adding that the terrorists suffered significant losses.

"On March 15, Russian aerospace forces carried out a strike on the base of militants who left the Al-Tanf zone and sheltered in hard-to-reach areas of the Jebel Bishri mountain range in the Deir Ez-Zor governorate. As a result, the terrorists suffered significant losses in material assets and manpower," Kulit said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Under a secret contract with US intelligence agencies, Elon Musk's SpaceX is producing a constellation of hundreds of reconnaissance satellites worth almost $2 billion, according to a report by Reuters.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇻🇪 Venezuela's ruling United Socialist Party has nominated incumbent Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as a candidate for an upcoming presidential election scheduled for July, party's vice president Diosdado Cabello said.

"Approved ... President Nicolas Maduro, your party is in front of you, this party now has a candidate," Cabello said during the party's congress meeting.

The Venezuelan presidential election is scheduled for July 28.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ Niger tears up a military agreement with the US that allows the US Armed Forces to stay in the country, media reported.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt