Russian voters agree to let Putin seek 2 more terms

July 01, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian voters approved changes to the constitution that will allow President Vladimir Putin to potentially hold power until 2036, but the weeklong plebiscite that concluded Wednesday was tarnished by widespread reports of pressure on voters and other irregularities.

With three-fourths of all precincts counted, 77.6% voted for the constitutional amendments, according to election officials. For the first time in Russia, polls were kept open for a week to bolster turnout without increasing crowds casting ballots amid the coronavirus pandemic — a provision that Kremlin critics denounced as an extra tool to manipulate the outcome.

A massive propaganda campaign and the opposition’s failure to mount a coordinated challenge helped Putin get the result he wanted, but the plebiscite could end up eroding his position because of the unconventional methods used to boost participation and the dubious legal basis for the balloting.

The amendments that would allow Putin to run for two more six-year terms, in 2024 and 2030, are part of a package of constitutional changes that also outlaw same-sex marriage, mention “a belief in God as a core value” and emphasize the primacy of Russian law over international norms.

Voters could not cast ballots on the individual amendments, only on the entire group. Nationwide turnout was reported at 65% of the electorate. Kremlin critics and independent election observers questioned the turnout figures.

“We look at neighboring regions, and anomalies are obvious — there are regions where the turnout is artificially (boosted), there are regions where it is more or less real,” Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of the independent election monitoring group Golos, told The Associated Press.

Putin voted at a Moscow polling station, dutifully showing his passport to the election worker. His face was uncovered, unlike most of the other voters who were offered free masks at the entrance. The vote completes a convoluted saga that began in January, when Putin first proposed constitutional changes including broadening the powers of parliament and redistributing authority among the branches of government. Those proposals stoked speculation he might seek to become parliamentary speaker or chairman of the State Council when his presidential term ends in 2024.

His intentions became clear only hours before a vote in parliament, when legislator Valentina Tereshkova, a Soviet-era cosmonaut who was the first woman in space in 1963, proposed letting him run two more times. The proposed changes were quickly passed by the Kremlin-controlled legislature.

The 67-year-old Putin, who has been in power for more than two decades — longer than any other Kremlin leader since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin — said he would decide later whether to run again. He argued that resetting the term count was necessary to keep his lieutenants focused on their work instead of “darting their eyes in search for possible successors.”

Analyst Gleb Pavlovsky, a former Kremlin political consultant, said Putin’s push to hold the vote despite the fact that Russia has thousands of new coronavirus infections each day reflected his potential vulnerabilities.

“Putin lacks confidence in his inner circle and he’s worried about the future,” Pavlovsky said. “He wants an irrefutable proof of public support.” Even though the parliament's approval was enough to make it law, the 67-year-old Russian president put his constitutional plan to voters to showcase his broad support and add a democratic veneer to the changes. But then the coronavirus pandemic engulfed Russia, forcing him to postpone the April 22 plebiscite.

The delay made Putin’s campaign blitz lose momentum and left his constitutional reform plan hanging as the damage from the virus mounted and public discontent grew. Plummeting incomes and rising unemployment during the outbreak have dented his approval ratings, which sank to 59%, the lowest level since he came to power, according to the Levada Center, Russia’s top independent pollster.

Moscow-based political analyst Ekaterina Schulmann said the Kremlin had faced a difficult dilemma: Holding the vote sooner would have brought accusations of jeopardizing public health for political ends, while delaying it raised the risks of defeat. “Holding it in the autumn would have been too risky,” she said.

In Moscow, several activists briefly lay on Red Square, forming the number “2036” with their bodies in protest before police stopped them. Some others in Moscow and St. Petersburg staged one-person pickets and police didn’t intervene.

Several hundred opposition supporters later rallied in central Moscow to protest the changes, defying a ban on public gatherings imposed for the coronavirus outbreak. Police didn’t intervene and even handed masks to the participants.

Authorities mounted a sweeping effort to persuade teachers, doctors, workers at public sector enterprises and others who are paid by the state to cast ballots. Reports surfaced from across the vast country of managers coercing people to vote.

The Kremlin has used other tactics to boost turnout and support for the amendments. Prizes ranging from gift certificates to cars and apartments were offered as an encouragement, voters with Russian passports from eastern Ukraine were bused across the border to vote, and two regions with large number of voters — Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod — allowed electronic balloting.

In Moscow, some journalists and activists said they were able to cast their ballots both online and in person in a bid to show the lack of safeguards against manipulations. Kremlin critics and independent monitors pointed out that the relentless pressure on voters coupled with new opportunities for manipulations from a week of early voting when ballot boxes stood unattended at night eroded the standards of voting to a striking new low.

In addition to that, the early voting sanctioned by election officials but not reflected in law further eroded the ballot’s validity. Many criticized the Kremlin for lumping more than 200 proposed amendments together in one package without giving voters a chance to differentiate among them.

“I voted against the new amendments to the constitution because it all looks like a circus,” said Yelena Zorkina, 45, after voting in St. Petersburg. “How can people vote for the whole thing if they agree with some amendments but disagree with the others?"

Putin supporters were not discouraged by being unable to vote separately on the proposed changes. Taisia Fyodorova, a 69-year-old retiree in St. Petersburg, said she voted yes “because I trust our government and the president.”

In a frantic effort to get the vote, polling station workers set up ballot boxes in courtyards and playgrounds, on tree stumps and even in car trunks — unlikely settings derided on social media that made it impossible to ensure a clean vote.

In Moscow, there were reports of unusually high numbers of at-home voters, with hundreds visited by election workers in a matter of hours, along with multiple complaints from monitors that paperwork documenting the turnout was being concealed from them.

At the same time, monitoring the vote became more challenging due to hygiene requirements and more arcane rules for election observers. The Golos monitoring group pointed out at unusual differences between neighboring regions: in the Siberian republic of Tyva over 73% voted in the first five days, while in the neighboring Irkutsk region, turnout was about 22% and in the neighboring republic of Altai, it was under 33%.

“These differences can be explained only by forcing people to vote in certain areas or by rigging,” Golos said. Observers warned that the methods used to boost turnout, combined with bureaucratic hurdles that hindered independent monitoring, would undermine the vote's legitimacy.

“There is a big question about the results of this vote,” Melkonyants said, adding that its outcome "can’t really bear any legal standing.”

Associated Press writers Irina Titova in St. Petersburg and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.

Leaders of Russia, Turkey, Iran talk about stabilizing Syria

July 01, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — The leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran on Wednesday discussed efforts to stabilize Syria in a video call, emphasizing the need to promote a political settlement for the nine-year conflict.

Russia and Iran have staunchly supported Syrian President Bashar Assad throughout the country's war, while Turkey has backed his foes. However, the three countries have pooled their efforts to help end hostilities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed the trilateral cooperation to help reduce violence in the country, but he also emphasized the need to deal with a few pockets of militant resistance. “We need to think what other steps must be taken to neutralize the terrorist groups that are still active,” Putin said at the start of the video call, noting that the situation in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib and the areas east of the Euphrates River remain tense.

The Russian leader extolled Russia-Turkey cooperation to reduce hostilities in Idlib, noting “the situation in the de-escalation zone has stabilized considerably following the introduction of a cease-fire.”

In early March, an agreement between Turkey and Russia halted the Syrian government’s three-month air and ground campaign into rebel-held Idlib. The cease-fire has largely held. Putin emphasized the need to help Syria rebuild its economy and encourage the return of refugees, criticizing the U.S. and the EU sanctions against Assad’s government as an attempt to “strangle Syria economically.”

The Trump administration this month began implementing new sanctions aimed at cutting off revenue for Assad’s government. The sanctions, known as the U.S. Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, are the toughest set of measures to be imposed on Syria yet, preventing anyone around the world from doing business with Syrian officials or state institutions or from participating in the country’s reconstruction.

Putin also spoke of the need to promote a political process, saying that “it’s necessary to help advance an inclusive dialogue between the Syrians within the framework of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva.”

“We propose to support that process, help the participants meet and start a direct dialogue on the development of parameters of Syria’s future state order,” the Russian leader said. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also underlined the need to find a political solution to the conflict. “I hope that during this meeting we will continue this impetus,” he said.

Last month, Geir Pedersen, the United Nations' special envoy for Syria, told the U.N. Security Council that he hopes that talks on drafting the country's new constitution can be held in late August. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani used the call to urge the U.S. to withdraw its troops from Syria to allow Assad's government fully reclaim control of the country's territory.

Some U.S. troops have remained in Syria to protect an expanse of Kurdish-controlled oil fields and facilities from falling into the hands of the Islamic State group.

Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Nasser Karimi in Tehran contributed to this report.

Russian vote on extending Putin's rule until 2036 nears end

July 01, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s vote on constitutional amendments that could allow President Vladimir Putin to extend his rule until 2036 entered its final day Wednesday amid widespread reports of pressure on voters and other irregularities.

For the first time in Russia, the polls were kept open for a week to help reduce crowds on election day and to bolster turnout amid the coronavirus pandemic — a provision that Kremlin critics saw as just an another way to manipulate the vote.

Putin is all but guaranteed to get the result he wants following a massive state propaganda campaign and the changes and the opposition’s failure to mount a coordinated challenge. Ironically, however, the plebiscite aimed at consolidating Putin’s grip could end up eroding his position because of the unconventional methods used to boost participation and the dubious legal basis for the ballot.

By Wednesday morning, the turnout already exceeded 55%, according to election officials. But Kremlin critics and independent election observers questioned official figures showing that in some regions up to 85% of eligible voters had turned out.

Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of the independent election monitoring group Golos, called the overall vote numbers “suspicious in general.” “We look at neighboring regions, and anomalies are obvious — there are regions where the turnout is artificially (boosted), there are regions where it is more or less real,” Melkonyants told The Associated Press.

The ballot completes a convoluted saga of concealment, deception and surprise that began in January, when Putin first proposed the constitutional changes in a state-of-the-nation address. He offered to broaden the powers of parliament and redistribute authority among the branches of the Russian government, stoking speculation he might continue calling the shots as parliamentary speaker or as chairman of the State Council when his presidential term ends in 2024.

The Russian leader’s intentions became clear only hours before a decisive vote in parliament, when legislator Valentina Tereshkova, a Soviet-era cosmonaut who was the first woman in space in 1963, suddenly proposed a measure to let him run two more times. The amendments, which also emphasize the priority of Russian law over international norms, outlaw same-sex marriages and mention “a belief in God” as a core value, quickly sailed through the Kremlin-controlled legislature.

Putin, who has been in power for more than two decades — longer than any other Kremlin leader since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin — said he would decide later whether to run again in 2024. He argued that resetting the term count was necessary to keep his lieutenants from “darting their eyes in search for possible successors instead of normal, rhythmical work.”

Gleb Pavlovsky, a political analyst and former Kremlin political consultant, said Putin’s unrelenting push to hold the vote despite the fact that Russia is reporting thousands of new coronavirus infections each day reflected the Russian leader’s potential vulnerabilities.

“Putin lacks confidence in his inner circle and he’s worried about the future,” Pavlovsky said. “He wants an irrefutable proof of public support.” Even though parliamentary approval was enough to make it law, the 67-year-old Russian president put his constitutional plan to voters in a bid to showcase his broad support and add a democratic veneer to the changes. His maneuver backfired weeks later when the coronavirus pandemic engulfed Russia, forcing Putin to postpone the plebiscite originally scheduled for April 22.

The delay made Putin’s campaign blitz lose momentum and left his constitutional reform plan hanging as the damage from the virus mounted and public discontent grew. Plummeting incomes and rising unemployment during Russia’s outbreak have dented Putin’s approval ratings, which sank to 59% during Russia’s outbreak, the lowest level since his ascent to power, according to the Levada Center, Russia’s top independent pollster.

Amid the uncertainty, Putin rescheduled the vote immediately upon seeing the first signs of a slowdown in Russia’s infection rate even though the daily confirmed cases remains high. Moscow-based political analyst Ekaterina Schulmann said the Kremlin had faced a difficult dilemma. Holding the vote sooner would have brought accusations of jeopardizing public health for political ends, while delaying it further raised the risks of defeat, she said.

“A late vote could have been lost. Holding it in the autumn would have been too risky,” Schulmann said. Schulmann argued that the Kremlin’s focus isn’t so much on boosting overall turnout but rather on increasing attendance by public sector workers.

The authorities have mounted a sweeping effort to persuade teachers, doctors, workers at public sector enterprises and others who are paid by the state to cast ballots. Reports surfaced from many corners of the vast country that managers were coercing people to vote.

Kremlin critics and independent monitors pointed out that the relentless pressure on voters coupled with new opportunities for manipulations from a week of early voting eroded the standards of voting to a new low.

The Golos monitoring group noted unusual differences between neighboring regions: in the Siberian republic of Tyva over 73% voted during the first five days, while in the neighboring Irkutsk region the turnout was around 22% and in the neighboring republic of Altai it was under 33%.

“These differences can be explained only by forcing people to vote in certain areas or by rigging,” Golos said. Monitoring the vote became more challenging due to hygiene requirements and more arcane rules for election observers. The Kremlin also has used other tactics to increase turnout and support for the amendments.

Prizes ranging from gift certificates to cars and apartments were offered as an encouragement, giant billboards went up across Russia and celebrities posted ads for the “yes” vote on social media. Two regions with large numbers of voters — Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod — allowed electronic balloting and voters with Russian passports from eastern Ukraine were brought across the border in buses to vote.

Most observers expect the Kremlin to get its way, regardless of the opposition’s strategies. “People are angry at the government, but they still don’t have any alternative to Putin,” Pavlovsky said. He noted, however, that the unusual methods used by authorities to boost turnout and get the result Putin wants will undermine the legitimacy of the vote.

“The procedure has been distorted and simplified to the point when it would be difficult to trust the figures,” Pavlovsky said.

Support for Putin wanes in his former Russian stronghold

June 30, 2020

NIZHNY TAGIL, Russia (AP) — In 2011, the industrial city of Nizhny Tagil was dubbed “Putingrad” for its residents’ fervent support for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Nine years later, it appears the city 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) east of Moscow no longer lives up to that nickname.

Workers are speaking out against the constitutional changes that would allow Putin to stay in office until 2036 amid growing frustration over their dire living conditions, which have not improved despite all the promises.

“I am against the constitutional changes, most importantly because they are a coronation of the czar, who reigns but does not rule — Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin,” says Nikolay Nemytov, a 43-year-old engineer at Russian Railways, a state-run monopoly. He says his monthly salary, the equivalent of $430, is not nearly enough.

Anton Zhuravlyov, a 33-year-old operator at the Nizhny Tagil Iron and Steel Works Plant, or NTMK, agrees with him on the vote. “I think (the vote) is just a show. It is more for Putin to show that, ‘Look, the people support me, I am still needed, I am in demand,’" said Zhuravlyov, whose employer is one of the two biggest companies in the city. He says his salary hasn’t changed in four years, adding: “The majority of people are against him.”

Commentators say dwindling public support is the reason why the Kremlin rushed to push through the changes that effectively would allow Putin, already in power for two decades, to hold office for another 16 years if he chooses.

The coronavirus outbreak forced officials to postpone an April 22 vote on a set of constitution amendments that included a clause that resets the term count for Putin, allowing him to run for two more six-year terms after his current term ends in 2024.

At the first sign of the outbreak slowing down, Putin rescheduled the plebiscite for Wednesday, even though Russia's daily number of new infections is still just under 7,000. His historically high approval rating is at an all-time low — 59% in May, according to Levada Center, Russia's top independent pollster — and the Kremlin is clearly struggling to rally the enthusiasm and the turnout needed for the vote to be seen as a nationwide triumph.

Economic woes, like those in Nizhny Tagil, have been eroding Putin's ratings for years, said Denis Volkov, a sociologist with the Levada Center. “Over the past five years, poverty has been continuously growing, people's financial situation was worsening, and in the midst of it, the (approval) ratings have been slowly declining,” he said.

The mood was far different in 2011-12, when Nizhny Tagil, with its 360,000 residents, became a bedrock of support for Putin. Igor Kholmanskih, a foreman at the state tank and railroad car factory Uralvagonzavod, appeared on Putin’s annual nationwide phone-in marathon in December 2011 and denounced the mass protests occurring in Moscow at the time as a threat to “stability."

“Today, our staff of many thousands has work, has salaries, has a future, and we value this stability very much. We don’t want to go back,” the foreman said in proposing that he “and the guys” travel to Moscow to help suppress the unrest.

“Do come over!” Putin said with a smile. Several days after his inauguration in May 2012, the president visited Nizhny Tagil. A week later, he appointed Kholmanskikh to be his envoy in the Ural mountains region.

In a stark contrast, the once-vehement Putin supporter later criticized authorities for embellishing statistics on salaries that didn't reflect the dire living conditions. Kholmanskikh's unremarkable political career ended in June 2018 when Putin dismissed him, and he returned to Uralvagonzavod as chairman of the board — only to step down and completely vanish from public view by January of this year.

“The majority doesn't see this kind of money in their wallets. When people hear about average salaries in their cities and regions, they just assume they're being lied to,” Kholmanskikh said in a rare public appearance at a conference in December.

His sentiment tracked the shifting mood of Nizhny Tagil residents, from support to opposition, after several years of falling living standards. “Indeed, we used to be ‘Putingrad.’ We used to support the government's agenda,” says Nadezhda Zhuravlyova, 36, a local activist. “A lot has changed. The agenda that the government is promoting no longer satisfies local residents' needs.”

Zhuravlyova, who worked at NTMK for seven years and is now on maternity leave, is the face of a local opposition movement, Tagil for Changes, that was founded in 2018 — the year of the election that gave Putin another six years.

She says protests have been rising since then, with people no longer afraid to take a public stand. “In March, we organized a mass picket against the constitutional amendments, and many city residents (who attended) we were not acquainted with — they were not just from our circle. People just saw the protest and came forward,” Zhuravlyova says.

Zhuravlyova blames unpopular government policies such as raising the retirement age and increasing tariffs on garbage collection. She says wages are rising slowly but living conditions are worsening. “Many people get their salary and immediately spend it — (on) utility bills, paying off loans ... education, health care, groceries and medicine," Zhuravlyova said.

Nemytov, who worked at NTMK for 12 years before joining Russian Railways, says he spends almost half of his $430 salary on utility bills that go up every year. “This is just not enough for my family,” said the engineer, who adds that he cannot take his four children on fun outings or on vacations to southern Russia.

Zhuravlyov echoes his sentiment, blaming Putin. “He's the most important boss. (People) do as he says," the worker says. Nemytov believes the constitutional changes won't improve life for workers in Nizhny Tagil.

“They only care for us as numbers on a piece of paper. We don't exist for them,” the engineer says.

Litvinova reported from Moscow.

Vote to extend Putin's rule faces little protest in Russia

June 25, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — They’ve offered prizes ranging from gift certificates to cars and apartments. They’ve put up billboards and enlisted celebrities to urge a “yes” vote. They’ve encouraged state-run businesses like hospitals and schools to pressure employees to register at the polls.

Russian authorities seem to be pulling out all the stops to get people to vote on constitutional amendments that would enable President Vladimir Putin to stay in office until 2036 by resetting the clock on his term limits.

The country’s divided opposition, meanwhile, has failed to mobilize a significant protest amid the audacious election campaign and the weeklong voting that begins with early balloting Thursday. Instead, critics are raising questions about the vote's legitimacy.

“Nothing will prevent the Kremlin from getting the formal result they need,” said former Kremlin speechwriter-turned-political analyst Abbas Gallyamov. The amendments include a change in the constitution that would allow the 67-year-old Putin, who has ruled Russia for over two decades, to run for two more six-year terms after his current one expires in 2024. Other amendments talk about improving social benefits and effectively ban same-sex marriage, tapping into the country's social conservatism and concerns about plummeting incomes.

The amendments have already been approved by both houses of parliament, the country’s Constitutional Court and were signed into law by Putin, and the vote is seen as an effort to put a veneer of democracy on the controversial changes. Putin says he's sure the “absolute majority” of Russians approve of them.

According to the Levada independent polling center, 44% of Russians said in late May they would vote “yes,” and 32% would vote “no" but only 25% of the “no” respondents planned to vote. “Those who don’t support the amendments are not mobilized. (They are) demoralized and don’t know what to do,” said Denis Volkov, a sociologist with the Levada Center.

The opposition has sent mixed signals. Its best-known figure, Alexei Navalny, has dismissed the vote as illegitimate, saying it doesn’t make sense to participate, even if voting against the amendments.

“Do you want to go and vote ‘no’? This strategy seems naive and a bit laughable to me. But if that’s what your heart wants - go and vote ‘no.’ The main thing is to not recognize (the vote’s legitimacy), because it’s a scam,” Navalny said on his YouTube channel.

Navalny’s team has backed a strike by election workers who don't want to risk contracting coronavirus at polling stations. But the strikers admit they haven't gained much traction -- an open letter has so far gathered a little over 500 signatures. In Moscow alone, there are about 2,000 workers, said Sergei Lebedev, who signed the letter, adding that he had expected more support.

“Reporters often ask whether we want to derail the vote. Of course not," he said, adding he doubted that enough poll workers would strike. The vote was set for April but was postponed due to the pandemic. Putin rescheduled the vote to conclude by July 1, saying that Russia has passed the peak of its outbreak, even as the number of new infections still hovers around 9,000 a day.

Some Moscow politicians and journalists launched a “No!” campaign against the amendments, but the virus lockdown prohibited rallies, and authorities have detained even single pickets. Most of the operations took place online. Live YouTube rallies and hashtag campaigns on social media revealed that a significant number of people don’t support the amendments, said Yulia Galyamina, one of the founders of “No!”

However, she admitted it could not compete with the Kremlin's operation. “Society is under the influence of ubiquitous (state) propaganda. We have neither the resources, nor the opportunity, to organize propaganda of this scale,” Galyamina said.

The biggest problem vote organizers face is turnout — luring people to the polls after weeks of coronavirus lockdowns and at a time when public support for Putin is dwindling: In April and May, his traditionally high approval ratings reached an all-time low of 59%, according to the Levada Center.

Authorities have turned to using incentives. In the Siberian Krasnoyarsk region, a constitutional quiz has been organized — conveniently near polling stations — with top prizes of a car or an apartment. Moscow authorities have allocated 10 billion rubles ($145 million) for gift certificates to shops and restaurants for voters.

There also have been appeals to patriotism and even homophobia. One video used gay stereotypes to promote the message that without the amendments, same-sex couples would be able to adopt children. Critics say the way the vote has been organized leaves room for manipulation and fraud. To keep big crowds from forming, polls will be open for seven days through July 1. It's not clear who will keep an eye on ballot boxes during regular disinfection breaks, when everyone, including poll workers and monitors, must leave the premises.

There also will be fewer independent monitors because more bureaucratic hurdles have been added. Online voting has also been allowed in the Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod regions, which have a combined population of nearly 16 million.

“The whole procedure from start to finish is aimed at covering up rigging, which will be very convenient to carry out,” says Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of the independent election monitoring group Golos.

Critics say those tactics reflect the government's struggle to mobilize supporters. They note that social media posts from celebrities supporting the amendments have been flooded with comments against them.

The opposition has shifted its focus to exposing potential vote fraud. After the polls opened on Thursday, Navalny retweeted a video of what appeared to be a polling station set up inside the trunk of a car in the far eastern city of Vladivostok. His team also posted photos of make-shift polling stations in tents and on street benches, pointing to lack of monitoring and control.

“The result of the vote has already been decided. I think they won’t even count anything, they will just declare the result of vote they had prepared,” opposition politician and Navalny ally Vladimir Milov said on Instagram.

Milov said the vote can still play into the opposition’s favor because “people will see tons of rigging and will get outraged.” Some anger already is palpable, especially among those pressured to vote by their employers, Melkonyants said.

“People feel that it’s not being done for them, all these amendments,” he said. “People have this feeling that there is some kind of fraud there." Political analyst Gallyamov echoed Milov’s sentiment: “The question is whether society will trust the result."

Russia opens polls for vote on extending Putin's rule

June 25, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — Polls opened in Russia on Thursday for a week-long vote on constitutional changes that would allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036. The vote on a slew of constitutional amendments, proposed by Putin in January, was initially scheduled for April 22, but was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. It was later rescheduled for July 1, with polling stations opening a week earlier and staying open for seven days to prevent crowds on the main voting day.

The proposed amendments include a change in the Russian Constitution that would allow the 67-year-old Putin, who has ruled Russia for over two decades, to run for two more six-year terms after his current one expires in 2024.

Other proposed changes talk about improving social benefits, define marriage as a union of a man and a woman, and redistribute executive powers within the government, strengthening the presidency. The amendments already were approved by both houses of parliament and the country’s Constitutional Court, and signed into law by Putin. He insisted they be put to voters even though it was not legally required, a move many see as an effort to put a veneer of democracy on the controversial changes.

Holding the plebiscite in the middle of a pandemic has elicited public health concerns. Russia is still reporting over 7,000 new confirmed virus cases a day and has the world's third-highest caseload with 613,000 confirmed cases in all.

The Kremlin has repeatedly dismissed the safety concerns, saying that Russia was able to slow its outbreak and assuring people that the additional voting days, outdoor polling stations and other measures are in place to protect voters

Critics said they feared the new procedures would hinder independent monitoring of the plebiscite and create opportunities for manipulation and fraud. After polls opened Thursday, opposition politician Alexei Navalny retweeted a video of what appeared to be a polling station set up inside the trunk of a car in the far eastern city of Vladivostok. His team also posted photos of makeshift polling stations in tents and on street benches.

In a tweet featuring a video of a tent with two poll workers in it and a small plastic ballot box, Navalny said sarcastically: “As you see, control is tight, rigging is impossible. Your vote may be of critical importance!”

Some media reports pointed out that in Moscow, where online voting is allowed, people who registered to vote that way were also able to vote at polling stations. Pavel Lobkov, a journalist with the independent TV channel Dozhd, said he was able to cast a ballot both in person and online. Election authorities said they would invalidate all the votes in the ballot box where Lobkov put his ballot.

Central Election Commission Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova rejected criticism of voting procedures. “No one is voting on benches or trunks of cars, no one is voting in tents," she said, calling the reported incidents of double voting a provocation.

Commenting Thursday, Putin said that the most important task is ensuring “the results of the nationwide vote are absolutely veracious, legitimate. Voters shouldn't be coerced and turnout shouldn't be artificially inflated “so that afterwards, no one can cast doubt on the position that the people will express,” Putin said.

Poland says Putin falsifies history to weaken Western allies

June 19, 2020

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Polish government says that Russian President Vladimir Putin is manipulating World War II-era history in a way that whitewashes Soviet crimes and accuses him of doing it as part of an “information war” against the West.

The statement Friday from the government in Warsaw came a day after Putin in a lengthy article in a U.S. journal insisted on recognizing the Soviet Union as the prime defeater of Nazi Germany and suggested that Poland — a nation that was carved up by the German and Soviet forces and which lost 6 million citizens — bears some blame for the start of World War II.

Stanislaw Zaryn, the spokesman for the head of Poland’s security services, called Putin's op-ed “an element of an ongoing, persistent information war Russia wages against the West.” The article, titled “The Real Lessons of the 75th Anniversary of World War II,” appeared in the National Interest journal six days before a huge military parade in Red Square to commemorate the end of World War II in Europe.

Sergey Radchenko, a historian of the Cold War at Cardiff University, called Putin’s article “a piece of crude propaganda” and described it on Twitter as a “historical narrative that would support his shallow claims to greatness as he seeks to perpetuate his rule.”

The war, in which the Soviet Union lost an estimated 27 million people, is a linchpin of Russia’s national identity and Russian officials bristle at any questioning of the USSR’s role. On the same day as the parade in Moscow, President Donald Trump will receive Polish President Andzej Duda at the White House for talks on defense and economic cooperation. Trump has promised to deploy more U.S. troops to NATO ally Poland, and details of those plans are expected.

Zaryn accused Putin of pushing a false narrative about history in order to “undermine” the West and weaken the bonds among allies. “The claims made by Putin are part of a comprehensive disinformation effort aimed to destabilize the West, pit NATO member states against each other, undermine the credibility and reliability of the Alliance, as well as to paint a false picture of Russia as a global defender who should sit at the table when the decisions on the world order are made,” Zaryn said.

The Soviet Union signed a nonaggression pact with Nazi Germany shortly before the war began in 1939, known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. It contained a secret protocol in which the totalitarian powers agreed to carve up Poland and the Baltic states.

Two years later, Germany turned on Stalin and invaded the Soviet Union, bringing the Soviets into the war on the side of the Allies. Millions of Red Army soldiers lost their lives in the eventual defeat of Hitler’s Germany.

In recent years, Putin has been seeking to shift wartime blame to Poland as historical memory in the West has begun to focus more on the Soviet role in triggering the war and Stalin's crimes, and less on its role in defeating Germany.

In his article, Putin reiterated his contention that the Soviet Union was forced into signing the non-aggression agreement with Germany after Western powers and Poland cold-shouldered creating a military alliance.

“The Soviet Union did its utmost to use every chance of creating an anti-Hitler coalition. Despite — I will say it again — the double dealing on the part of the Western countries,” he wrote. He also defended the wartime annexation of the Baltic nations.

Poland has pushed back against such contentions before, while the dispute overshadowed January commemorations for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Red Army.