Designed to confirm Vladimir Putin in the presidency. Allies of the late opposition leader, alexei navalny, had called on people to turn out at midday, in moscow and other cities to spoil their ballots or vote for any other candidate. His widow, yulia navalnaya, voted at the Russian Embassy in berlin, having queued there for several hours. As she left, she told reporters she had written navalny on her ballot. Her husband died in an Arctic Penal Colony last month and was barred from standing in this election as well as the president ial vote six years ago. These were the scenes in moscow. Thereve been no protest chants. The authorities warned that activists could be arrested. A Rights Monitoring Group in russia says more than 70 people have been detained. Vladimir putin is certain to win, giving him another six years in power. The kremlin has ensured he faces no credible opponent. There have been demonstrations at russian embassies around the world, including the uk, france, tokyo and
In this episode of Political Agenda, Dr Eleanor Bindman, an expert in Russian politics, discusses the Russian public's dismay at recent events, Vladimir Putin's strategic miscalculation, and why suggestions of a new Cold War era are wide of the mark.
street says it plans to ramp up pressure on russia. paul adams, bbc news. let s explore what s going on. dr eleanor bindman is a senior lecturer in european politics at manchester metropolitan university. thanks very much for coming on the programme. let s start with this intelligence release by the office, what you make of it? it intelligence release by the office, what you make of it? what you make of it? it seems a little bit far-fetched, what you make of it? it seems a little bit far-fetched, it - what you make of it? it seems a little bit far-fetched, it has - what you make of it? it seems a little bit far-fetched, it has to i what you make of it? it seems a| little bit far-fetched, it has to be little bit far fetched, it has to be said. i think your reporter made the point it seems to have been release quite abruptly. it s more likely to be a rumour or one of these stories that flies around. but it doesn t seem overly credible. white how credible do you take the seem overly cr
in eastern europe, that it rules out membership ever for ukraine and things like that, all of which the us have said are nonstarters, but at least that process has now been engaged with in a formal process. and i think the americans are happy simply because the talks continue, they are able to look at the russians across the table and say, look, as you heard in the reports, if there is any military action across ukraine s borders there will be swift and severe responses and the hope is the longer the russians keep talking, then the longer that process could potentially endure and if it does, then that might have a role in delaying some kind of military action in the future, so largely as we expected. dr eleanor bindman is a senior lecturer in eastern european politics at manchester metropolitan university shejoins me now. thank you very much for doing so.
with this we finish our press conference. with this we finish our press conference. . ., . ., ., conference. that was chancellor olaf scholz of germany conference. that was chancellor olaf scholz of germany and conference. that was chancellor olaf scholz of germany and vladimir- scholz of germany and vladimir putin, of russia, holding that press conference. we have been watching bbc news, we have followed all the way through that news conference. we will play our interview with djokovic a little later in the afternoon. you may have questions, if you do have one about the crisis in ukraine we d love to hear it. to get in touch with those, we are answering as many as we can at 4:30 today. stay with us on bbc news. i m joined by dr eleanor bindman, senior lecturer in eastern european studies at manchester metropolitan university. thank you for your patience. what struck you most? was there any sense