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[00:00:01] I'm of John Kiriaku on my show, the deep state, I take you
[00:00:04] behind the geopolitical moves, the color revolutions, behind the
[00:00:08] politics and the
[00:00:10] of politicians, we
[00:00:11] of shine a light
[00:00:11] on where the deep state is
[00:00:15] of hiding,
[00:00:19] of
[00:00:24] the of Russian capital comes under heavy Ukrainian drone
[00:00:27] attack overnight, but several people are killed in the mosco
[00:00:31] region where the residential building is attacked and oil
[00:00:35] of refinery is also hit, and
[00:00:39] this
[00:00:39] in comes while Russians are going to the polls for the third and final
[00:00:43] day
[00:00:43] of the nationwide
[00:00:45] of state in Duma elections and we're here to bring you our special
[00:00:48] coverage
[00:00:49] of as in the world's biggest country has its democratic
[00:00:52] say, and that is my
[00:00:56] vote, one of tens of millions being cast around
[00:01:00] Dombas, but with every vote cast in the
[00:01:02] Dumbas, the people
[00:01:05] of the Dumbas show that those threats don't
[00:01:08] scare them, and while Zelensky
[00:01:11] of insists that
[00:01:13] of elections cannot be held in Ukraine while the country is at
[00:01:16] war, putting them off indefinitely, Russian citizens
[00:01:20] head to the polls in
[00:01:21] of regions either bordering or directly on the frontlines,
[00:01:25] despite daily shelling and threats from
[00:01:27] Kiev, generally speak. it is very difficult to
[00:01:31] intimidate me, it's just not in my nature. firstly, i don't recognize
[00:01:35] the landscate all and i don't watch him on tv. as for scammers,
[00:01:39] of they've already left me alone. we have lived too long to be
[00:01:44] of intimidated.
[00:01:46] of
[00:01:51] now welcome to RT international, reaching you with
[00:01:53] of all the latest
[00:01:54] of update from around the world. i am my
[00:01:56] coach. well as the third. the day of
[00:02:01] of parliamentary elections are on the way across Russia, Moscow's mayor said
[00:02:05] that more than 1,600 UAVs were shut down
[00:02:09] overnight, adding that 450 drones were
[00:02:12] intercepted as they approached the capital.
[00:02:15] of Sergei Sabatin has called the the attack unprecedented,
[00:02:19] saying that he was intended to disrupt the
[00:02:21] elections. The most massive enemy drone attack
[00:02:25] has been repelled since yesterday. Over 1,600 UAVs
[00:02:29] have been. shot down across all sectors, including 450
[00:02:33] while approaching Moscow. My thanks go
[00:02:36] of to the air defense personnel for their selfless efforts. Nevertheless,
[00:02:40] few drones reached the Moscow oil refinery and one struck
[00:02:43] a residential building. There were no fatalities, this
[00:02:46] unprecedented attack was clearly
[00:02:49] of orchestrated to disrupt the elections. The enemy failed in this
[00:02:52] attempt. As we heard from the Moscow mayor
[00:02:55] himself, Russian authorities have neutralized over
[00:02:58] 1,600. drones since Saturday and
[00:03:02] of the mayor added that 450 UAVs were intercepted on
[00:03:06] their way to the Russian capital was several drones hit the Moscow oil
[00:03:10] refinery as well as other residential buildings. Now these
[00:03:14] attacks were more uh or most
[00:03:16] of destructive in the Moscow
[00:03:17] a region where three people were left uh were killed uh and
[00:03:21] uh several were
[00:03:22] of left injured including the number of teenagers and three children. now
[00:03:26] uh the wounded are in hospitals getting the necessary...
[00:03:30] uh care possible, but 400 other
[00:03:34] people, including 70 children were also evacuated
[00:03:38] from other residential building uh because falling drone
[00:03:41] debries parked fire there, still in the Moscow region
[00:03:45] a
[00:03:47] of warehouse of also caught fire because of a drone. now due to these
[00:03:51] events, flight restrictions have
[00:03:52] been implemented in all four Moscow airports,
[00:03:56] but uh Ukrainian uh the Ukrainian armed forces have also...
[00:04:00] attacked the Zaparoji region where a drone a Ukrainian
[00:04:03] drone drone struck a school there were poling station was
[00:04:07] located, fortunately no casualties have been reported there because there were
[00:04:11] no people in the building at the time
[00:04:14] of the attack itself. meanwhile on
[00:04:16] of the other hand in the Herson region a drone attacked
[00:04:20] a busranian drone attacked a bus leaving
[00:04:24] two people killed, one of which was member
[00:04:28] a of the electoral commission there.
[00:04:32] Today, September 20th, as
[00:04:33] a result of a targeted drone attack a civilian bus in the Carson region,
[00:04:37] two people were killed. One
[00:04:39] of the victims was our colleague Olga Petrovna Damiannenko, born in
[00:04:42] 1966, member
[00:04:44] of the precinct electoral commission for polling station number 220 in the
[00:04:48] lower Saragor district
[00:04:49] of the Carson region. Olga Petrovna
[00:04:51] of was a member
[00:04:52] of the presenct electoral commission for 2023 and actively participated
[00:04:56] in the current election campaign for the State Dumer elections, engaging with many
[00:05:00] of her neighbors, fellow citizens and compatriots, while honestly, responsibly and
[00:05:04] bravely fulfilling her duties. she was involved in conducting early voting
[00:05:08] in the lower district
[00:05:09] of the region. her daughter, also member the
[00:05:13] precinct electoral commission. As I mentioned before, I will repeat it once
[00:05:16] more, despicable, cowardly bandera scum who are afraid to fight like
[00:05:20] men and truly engage in warfare, target our peaceful people, primarily
[00:05:24] women and children. I believe that shame will fall upon them and each one them will be
[00:05:28] found. Our strong spirited colleagues continue to
[00:05:30] work. The Russian investigative committee has stated
[00:05:34] that they've opened criminal cases related to these
[00:05:38] terror acts from Ukraine, including in Briansk course.
[00:05:43] and the Belgrade regions where two other people were killed
[00:05:47] because these Ukrainian attacks. now the massive rate that
[00:05:51] struck Moscow and the Moscow region. for instance,
[00:05:54] it struck just hours before poling stations were said to open
[00:05:58] in the capital, but despite these attacks, as we've
[00:06:02] as we understand, the 1,443 polling stations in
[00:06:06] Moscow did open on time. overnight the
[00:06:10] Russian armed forces also... have launched UAVs against
[00:06:14] logistical centers, warehouses and ports in Ukraine as
[00:06:18] well as vessels that are in operations with the
[00:06:21] Ukrainian armed forces. Now of course the timing of this
[00:06:25] is very interesting because as we know the uh parliamentary
[00:06:29] elections here in Russia are still taking place. We are on the third day, the final
[00:06:33] day the elections and one could only think that these
[00:06:36] attacks not only are blantenant acts of
[00:06:40] terrorism against civilians themselves. but also a way to
[00:06:44] try to disrupt the electoral process here in
[00:06:46] Russia, so earlier we heard from
[00:06:50] former advisor to the prosecutor general of Ukraine and
[00:06:54] ex-diplomat Andrejenko, he shared with us his
[00:06:57] thoughts on the timing the Ukrainia drone attacks
[00:07:01] overnight and what he sees as the goals of Kiev's terror
[00:07:05] campaign. timing is to
[00:07:08] terrorize, terrorize the people, so they won't be...
[00:07:13] picking part the election process, because Ukraine doesn't have elections, makes
[00:07:17] me sad that in my country we forgot what
[00:07:20] election is, Russia has elections, countries around have
[00:07:24] elections and the key regime today is terrorizing what is left of
[00:07:28] democracy in Ukraine, there's no terroris in the
[00:07:32] country that are democratic and are are moving in this process
[00:07:36] and that is the main takeaway from this, terrorizing,
[00:07:39] terrorizing and terrorizing because they cannot win on the front. so they're trying to
[00:07:43] hit what's what's easy for them, the
[00:07:47] civilians and that's that is just heartbreaking for me to see
[00:07:51] that my country that i was part of before
[00:07:55] Ukraine is just going into this direction and
[00:07:57] it has been going there for the last 12 years unfortunately and
[00:08:01] people are just waking up recently from all this what's
[00:08:05] happened look we have to understand the timing for this is also interesting we
[00:08:09] have elections into the united states congress and senate with the
[00:08:12] next six weeks and zelensky announcing that he can
[00:08:16] overthrow and destruct destroy russia
[00:08:19] was within these 40 days, he already announced this before during the summertime, nothing came
[00:08:23] out of it, thank god, and never understands that it's
[00:08:27] just false information, propaganda, but at the same time the ukrain
[00:08:31] capabilities they're going to try to move forward and terrorize and hit uh
[00:08:34] oil refineries within Russia, civilian targets within
[00:08:38] Russia just to try to
[00:08:40] show - in the elections in the United
[00:08:44] States, who is boss here? that's one. second of all, they want to
[00:08:47] disrupt and have the oil prices move up higher
[00:08:51] for Trump and the maga movement to lose as much seats as
[00:08:55] possible, because that's what what the end game is for Zelensky and his globalis
[00:08:59] and deep state owners within Europe and the United States for
[00:09:03] have the mac and movement to lose so they won't get more funding for
[00:09:06] Ukraine, more financial support for the war, so this war would
[00:09:10] continue, that is the end game. they don't care about peace, they don't
[00:09:14] care about trump or allies, they just care about themselves and the money
[00:09:18] pockets that are gna be filled when this thing is gna
[00:09:21] continue, well this is the
[00:09:25] final day of voting in Russia for the state Dumai
[00:09:28] elections, polls are set to close an hour, moscow
[00:09:32] time, the first preliminary results are expected after
[00:09:35] 9 pm moscow time later tonight, but while RTE has
[00:09:39] been keeping close tab on the polles With our special coverage
[00:09:43] bringing you all the latest updates all
[00:09:46] the
[00:09:58] way. As a third and final day of voting nationwide parliamentary
[00:10:01] elections is in full swing. The scale the process which
[00:10:05] spans across 11 time zones you see men's with
[00:10:09] voter turnout surpassing 56%. Now Russian
[00:10:13] citizens are exercising their constitutional rights to define their
[00:10:16] future for the next five years. Now when the country's new
[00:10:20] regions, more than 4 million residents have cast
[00:10:24] their ballots. the early elections with the process still
[00:10:27] ongoing. now in the frontline republic of Dunetsk and
[00:10:30] Lugansk, people are also heading to the polls to
[00:10:34] vote. now locals from one the most iconic regions of
[00:10:38] Russia, crimea, are actively showing up to choose their
[00:10:42] representatives. now citizens the most remote corners
[00:10:46] the country have also had the opportunity to have their stay
[00:10:49] in this election. whereas the Russian aerospace company
[00:10:53] Bureau 144 has provided residence of a small settlement
[00:10:57] in the country's far north with access to remote electronic
[00:11:01] voting. it has become possible with the use of a low earth
[00:11:05] orbit satellite network a next generation of satellite
[00:11:09] communications. now the company noted that such cases
[00:11:12] allow for the testing the service in real conditions
[00:11:16] and in the arctic for future
[00:11:18] needs. now for more on the
[00:11:22] elections, let's bring in our correspondents.
[00:11:26] who is joining us from the central electoral commission as well as
[00:11:29] Isabella Bloomberg joining us from our studio just outside the
[00:11:33] Kremlin now Bella let me start with you here can you tell us more on
[00:11:37] who is in the
[00:11:38] race?
[00:11:42] well good evening m it's about 7 pm in Moscow and an
[00:11:46] approximately one hour polling stations will close in the
[00:11:50] western regions of Russia with the exception of course of Caliningrad
[00:11:53] voters still have two hours to cast the ballot, but today
[00:11:57] polling stations were open nationwide and the central electoral
[00:12:01] commission is now reporting that overall voter turnout has
[00:12:05] exceeded 2021 elections uh
[00:12:09] with the percentage reaching more than 56%. i think
[00:12:12] it's also important to note here that these are the first parliamentary
[00:12:16] state dumer elections we've seen since the start the special military
[00:12:20] operation which was launched back in uh
[00:12:23] 2022.
[00:12:25] and for the first time in modern history we're seeing citizens from the four regions in the
[00:12:29] special military operation zone cast their ballot as Russian
[00:12:33] citizens. now let's also get into how these parliamentary elections
[00:12:36] actually work, because the state dumer forms the lower chamber the
[00:12:40] federal assembly and is comprised of 400
[00:12:44] seats. elections take place every five years and the seats are
[00:12:48] divided equally into two. 225 seats are
[00:12:51] determined by party lists. this means that voters are able to elect
[00:12:55] a political party and the other 225 seats are
[00:12:59] determined by party mats by uh by districts, so
[00:13:03] basically voters are able to select a specific candidate for
[00:13:06] their constituency. now for a political party to actually get
[00:13:10] through to the state dooma, they have to meet this 5%
[00:13:14] threshhold. voting, parliamentary elections take place over the course
[00:13:18] of three days, starting on september the 18th and ending today,
[00:13:21] september the 20th at 8 p.m. here.
[00:13:25] Moscow time now in terms of uh the political parties
[00:13:29] vying for seats, say there are currently 10 parties on the federal ballot: the
[00:13:33] first one being United Russia, a party that has enjoyed
[00:13:36] constitutional majority and was founded in 2001,
[00:13:40] then we have the communist party the Russian Federation, this party is
[00:13:43] considered the oldest party on the ballot, and of
[00:13:47] course we have just Russia, pole suggests that they will be able to meet the
[00:13:51] 5% threshhold for this election and we have
[00:13:55] Liberal Democratic Party of Russia now chaired by Leonid Slotski following the
[00:13:59] death of its charismatic leader Vladimir Zrinovski back in
[00:14:02] 2022 and of course we have new party here on the
[00:14:06] scene, new people, this is a relatively new parties I've mentioned founded in
[00:14:09] 2020 and curiously it managed to get through to the state Duma in those
[00:14:13] previous elections back in 2021. So with
[00:14:17] around an hour left to go with of course the exception of Caliningrad,
[00:14:21] this historic vote is about to be in the books after. that the
[00:14:25] central electoral commission will publish its preliminary
[00:14:28] results. really interesting to know there. now
[00:14:32] Aila, can you take us through the election procedure
[00:14:34] itself? well,
[00:14:38] Mike, I am here in the central election commission building and of course
[00:14:42] State Dumer elections are in their final day here in
[00:14:45] Russia. now the voter turnout at this point in time is
[00:14:49] 56.57%, and we are of course, as you
[00:14:53] mentioned, waiting on the prelim. results which we will receive at
[00:14:57] 9 pm moscow time and that is after polling stations
[00:15:01] close in the Russian city of Caliningrad which is one hour behind of
[00:15:04] Moscow and that is also when we will know the leading three
[00:15:08] candidates for each individual constituency uh notably
[00:15:12] of course there are 225 individual
[00:15:16] constituencies in Russia and 16 in the Russian
[00:15:19] capital alone now in casting their vote for a specific
[00:15:23] candidate uh to represent area in the state Duma each
[00:15:27] voter is able to choose from between uh between seven
[00:15:31] eight candidates per area and the total number of candidates
[00:15:35] nationwide is over 100. and 700
[00:15:39] people. now some of those candidates making the federal lists
[00:15:43] are independent candidates and uh importantly these federal lists also
[00:15:46] include veterans the special military operation.
[00:15:50] uh now nationwide we've got more than uh
[00:15:53] 90,000 polling stations uh open across the country
[00:15:57] and uh 11 different time zones as well and the total
[00:16:00] number of registered voters across uh Moscow is
[00:16:04] over 7,800 thousand people. and
[00:16:08] nationwide that number is uh
[00:16:10] 111 million
[00:16:13] so over the past three days people have been able to cast the vote a
[00:16:17] variety of different ways that is uh in person of course at polling
[00:16:21] stations uh using electronic terminals online uh
[00:16:24] a variety of different ways really even from home for those unable to
[00:16:28] vote in person so many different ways for Russian citizens to
[00:16:32] vote in this election indeed and it is also worth noting that
[00:16:36] at these elections, almost uh 400 thousand
[00:16:40] observers are present nationwide, so of course at this point
[00:16:44] in time the process is moving towards its final stage,
[00:16:48] which is the counting the votes. oh, it's really
[00:16:52] interesting and good to know. now bella, the elections are wrapping up,
[00:16:55] but am mid massive Ukrainian attacks on the Russian territory
[00:16:59] as well as the EU's own willingness to recognize the results.
[00:17:03] what else do we know about this?
[00:17:09] "Well, as you said, Mike, you know, the timing is truly hard to ignore
[00:17:12] here, because Moscow and the surrounding regions have come, what officials are
[00:17:16] calling one the largest Ukrainian drone attacks that we've
[00:17:20] seen since the start the war, actually, and it's not just
[00:17:23] the skies, because the central electoral commission is stating that this
[00:17:27] election has effectively been under attack since day one, ranging
[00:17:31] from cyber attacks on electoral infrastructure to provocations at
[00:17:35] polling stations, now at the same time..." the Russia's intelligence
[00:17:39] service reported that just a couple weeks ago that uh that European
[00:17:43] leaders were apparently drafting up their statements beforehand uh
[00:17:46] refusing to recognize the vote here in Russia before anyone actually cast
[00:17:50] their ballot and at the same time the this investigation also
[00:17:54] reported that European leaders were planning to undermine the
[00:17:58] vote calling on Russians abroad to to boycot the
[00:18:02] vote uh and also uh spreading claims about
[00:18:05] illegitimacy there as well. but you know, despite the pressure
[00:18:09] or maybe be even because of it, we've seen many Russians actually vote
[00:18:12] abroad. According to Russia's foreign ministry spokes Amir
[00:18:16] Zaharova, um, as of day three, during midday, she
[00:18:19] reported that over 104,000 Russian citizens
[00:18:23] voted abroad in over 333 polling stations in
[00:18:27] more than 150 countries, so as
[00:18:31] polls are prepared to close in the west here in about an hour, one
[00:18:35] thing is clear that these elections are... being held under these
[00:18:38] extraordinary circumstances, both at home and also
[00:18:42] abroad. All right, Ala, has there been
[00:18:46] any provocations or disruptions so far in this
[00:18:49] process? Well, Mike, the election
[00:18:53] themselves, the elections themselves are going smoothly, they're being
[00:18:57] held in full compliance with the law, we're seeing of course, high
[00:19:01] voter turn out, and there hasn't been a single successful
[00:19:05] attack on these elections, but how...
[00:19:07] of course there have been attempts and uh continued intimidation
[00:19:11] of election commission members
[00:19:14] uh as we know today two people were killed in a drone attack a
[00:19:18] civilian bus in the Hirson region and one
[00:19:22] the victims was member the presinct
[00:19:25] electoral commission in one of its electoral districts
[00:19:29] and that was reported by the central election commission head
[00:19:33] uh Ella Panfilova uh she also spoke on cyber attacks that
[00:19:45] Over the past period more than waves of ddos attacks were recorded
[00:19:49] against infrastructure in the Russian Federation that is specifically involved in the
[00:19:53] electoral process. Thankfully there were no successful attacks
[00:19:57] despite their intensity and power. At the same time the level of impact
[00:20:01] is assessed as very high. The attacks were carried out by highly
[00:20:05] professional, well coordinated groups.
[00:20:15] Brazil, Indonesia and even India. Thank god all the
[00:20:19] attacks were successfully
[00:20:20] repelled.
[00:20:25] What we're also seeing is well, what can be referred to as fake news in
[00:20:29] regards to these elections, such as for example, reports of
[00:20:32] observers being refused entry into polling stations across the
[00:20:36] country. We do know that. Only 22 complaints have
[00:20:39] been officially received in regards to difficulties in exercising the
[00:20:43] rights of observers, three of which were received today, and of course
[00:20:47] it's important to mention that the central. election commission deals
[00:20:51] with these uh these complaints
[00:20:55] immediately and promptly, so indeed there have been
[00:20:58] attempts to undermine this electoral process here, however
[00:21:02] they have produced an opposite effect, and what we're what we're seeing
[00:21:06] is the voters have become more active in casting their votes here in
[00:21:10] Russia. All right, now we have to end the conversation here, our
[00:21:14] correspondent Isabella Bloomberg as well as.
[00:21:18] Thank you very much for bringing us up to speed.
[00:21:22] Now the crucial vote is also taking place in territories that are
[00:21:25] coming under daily attack, but despite the threat posed by
[00:21:29] Ukraine, people say that they are determined that their voices will
[00:21:33] be heard. At the head the Dunetsk Republic has cast his
[00:21:37] vote a local polling station, noting that he met quite
[00:21:41] a few people who wanted to vote in their first state Duma
[00:21:44] election. Our RTS Morat Gazief reports on how the
[00:21:48] vote has been held. under wartime
[00:21:51] conditions
[00:21:55] across two continents and 11 time zones
[00:21:59] under ceaseless threat of attack russians vote
[00:22:03] for their new
[00:22:03] parliament
[00:22:14] in their millions despite constant threats from
[00:22:18] Ukraine of prosecution and
[00:22:22] persecution just for vooting, attacks on
[00:22:25] poling stations, fakes and Ukrainian
[00:22:29] propaganda. Yesterday and the day before,
[00:22:32] leaflets were dropped by drones across most of our region,
[00:22:36] containing calls to block the electoral process and urging
[00:22:40] people not to participate in the elections. Every day we are
[00:22:43] seeing a steady stream of two or three disinformation campaigns coming
[00:22:47] from the Ukrainian side, along with deep fakes and forged
[00:22:51] administrative documents, yet few are
[00:22:54] afraid, people are used to drones and
[00:22:57] missiles, verbal threats no longer carry
[00:23:01] the same weight. tell me, have you been in intimidated?
[00:23:05] did Zelensky threaten you saying you shouldn't go to these
[00:23:08] elections, in no way, he can't do
[00:23:11] anything. of course not, generally speaking it
[00:23:15] is very difficult to intimidate me, it's just not in my
[00:23:17] nature. God forbid. Firstly, I don't recognize
[00:23:21] the landscate at all, and I don't watch him on TV. As for scammers,
[00:23:25] they've already left me alone. We have live too long to be
[00:23:28] intimidated. And that
[00:23:32] is my vote, one of tens of millions being
[00:23:36] cast around the Donbus, an environment where
[00:23:39] people are actively being threatened, where electoral
[00:23:43] officials are receiving death threats, their families, their
[00:23:47] children, but with every vote... cast and the don
[00:23:51] bass, the people the donbas show
[00:23:54] that those threats don't scare them, not
[00:23:58] even strongly worded statements and
[00:24:01] condemnation could stop these elections. At
[00:24:05] today's meeting, the central electoral commission adopted resolution declaring
[00:24:08] that the organization and conduct of elections for deputies to the state duma
[00:24:12] the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine
[00:24:16] are illegitimate. It is, of course, ironic. that
[00:24:20] Ukraine forbids Ukrainians from voting in these
[00:24:24] Russian elections, because neither does it allow
[00:24:27] Ukrainians themselves, any elections, they're too
[00:24:31] dangerous, says the former president of
[00:24:34] Ukraine. Elections as such are huge
[00:24:37] risk. Elections right now are a tsunami which could split
[00:24:40] Ukraine. Again, the irony: Ukraine
[00:24:44] professes to be fighting for freedom and democracy, but says
[00:24:48] elections are too dangerous. Russia
[00:24:50] accuses of aggression and tyranny,
[00:24:54] holds elections even in war. He's holding
[00:24:58] elections in September, he needs a united society that will support his
[00:25:02] United Russia. Zelensky, on the other hand,
[00:25:05] doesn't need his society support, his term
[00:25:09] expired two years ago, and no one can do
[00:25:12] anything about it. He already controls all
[00:25:16] Ukrainian media, all newspapers and online publication.
[00:25:22] propaganda, anyone who criticizes him can be
[00:25:25] sanctioned, ukrainian or otherwise
[00:25:28] full spectrum else sent a one way trip to the front
[00:25:32] lines, so elections, you want elections as soon as do it
[00:25:36] tomorrow, but if we have the war, it's you can't do
[00:25:40] it, what elections, how to make elections with the 9 million people
[00:25:43] who are abroad, and what to do with the people who are
[00:25:47] temporary or live in? oc temporal occupied the
[00:25:51] territories. Europe, of course, will bend over backwards
[00:25:55] to accommodate Zelensky. Kaya Calas, the
[00:25:59] EU's diplomatic figure head, is never won. to
[00:26:02] overthink it, simple and cliche is her
[00:26:06] style. Putin hasn't had elections or Russia hasn't had
[00:26:10] elections in 25 years. Zelensky is
[00:26:13] elected leader, elected in the free and fair
[00:26:16] elections, and of course during the wartime, you can't have
[00:26:20] elections. Zelensky's corrupt ministers, his army
[00:26:23] heads simply don't mind. So long as the
[00:26:27] EU supports Zelensky, the aid money pours
[00:26:31] in. and it can be divided up and shared
[00:26:35] around between friends. The only concern
[00:26:39] is the people of Ukraine, forced
[00:26:42] brutally to fight a war they don't want to fight in, by
[00:26:46] a president they don't want, blasted by
[00:26:49] propaganda, they don't agree with, and there's
[00:26:53] nothing they can do about it, but
[00:26:55] daydream. We must find a legal, safe and realistic mechanism that
[00:26:59] will allow Ukraine to restore a full-fledged democ'. process even
[00:27:03] under the conditions of a prolonged war. this is difficult. we must guarantee
[00:27:07] the right to vote for our military, for millions of Ukrainians
[00:27:11] abroad and for those in the frontline regions. we must ensure the
[00:27:15] security the electoral process, the independence of institutions and
[00:27:19] trust in the results. if Russia could do it, then so
[00:27:22] could Ukraine, and the only thing stopping elections in
[00:27:26] Ukraine is the former president, one
[00:27:29] Zelensky, who just doesn't...
[00:27:38] while the elections in Russia have been monitored by more than
[00:27:42] 1000 international observers from 133
[00:27:45] countries, including bricks partners, Turkia, Uganda,
[00:27:49] Kurgistan and others. The footage here shows the moment of
[00:27:53] a friendly conversation between one the foreigners and an
[00:27:57] elderly Russian woman a polling station in the city of
[00:28:00] Yakaterimbug.
[00:28:01] Now a and in the video is Muntaza al Zaididi, the
[00:28:05] prominent Iraqi journalist who achieved
[00:28:08] worldwide fame when he threw his shoe at George W.
[00:28:12] Bush 18 years ago in protest against the US war on
[00:28:16] his country. A multiple polling
[00:28:20] stations are open in Russian embassies in many locations for
[00:28:24] citizens who are currently abroad, but here are some
[00:28:27] pictures from locations around the world from Armenia
[00:28:31] to the UAE. Now Russian voters are also showing
[00:28:35] up to cast their ballots in EU countries, some these
[00:28:39] expert trades say that it's important to express their
[00:28:42] position issues, even if they live
[00:28:45] abroad. We must
[00:28:49] always express our civic stance, regardless the situation in the
[00:28:52] world or in our country, but right now, in 2026, it seems
[00:28:56] to me that the world is on the brink of very significant changes, and Russia
[00:29:00] has a duty to face them with dig.
[00:30:02] in parliament for the next five years, so the first preliminary results
[00:30:06] will be available tonight after 9 pm moscow time,
[00:30:10] although the final figures won't be officially confirmed until October
[00:30:14] 5th, so stay tuned to RT for the latest
[00:30:17] update, especially at the top the hour when my colleague Niki Aron
[00:30:21] will take the wheels, so bye from me
[00:30:23] now.