Steve Rosenberg on Russia’s stage-managed election

There is almost no sign of the presidential election coming up this weekend. The absence of election preparations mirrors the absence of drama surrounding a stage-managed event. The other thing you can#39;t help noticing in Borovsk is the street art. Much of it has been created by street artist Vladimir Ovchinnikov.

Vladimir uses his art to comment on the present, but to shine a light on Russia#39;s dark past - the repressions of the Stalin era. His graffiti criticising the war in Ukraine doesn’t go down well with the authorities. It gets painted over fast. After the death in prison of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Vladimir painted Mr Navalny#39;s portrait on a local memorial stone that honours the victims of political repression.

34;My paintings get people thinking: are we right or are we wrong in this conflict? 34;" Vladimir tells me. Vladimir Putin is odds on for a landslide victory in the presidential election. If he did, he#39;d see a very different picture of Russia on state TV.

No mountains of human skulls. No meat grinders. No mention of Alexei Navalny. This is not a Russia aggressive abroad and repressive at home.

President Putin faces no serious challenge as he seeks a fifth term in office. His most vocal critics have either fled into exile or been jailed at home. But the Kremlin likes to boast that Russia has the #34;best democracy#34;" in the world. So, along with Mr Putin on the ballot are three officially authorised challengers.

Instead of talking up himself, Mr Kharitonov praised the incumbent. 34;Today Vladimir Putin is trying to solve a lot of the problems of the 1990s, when Yeltsin dragged Russia into wild capitalism,’ he said. He#39;s trying to consolidate the nation for victory in all areas. And this will happen!

Polls show that about 30-35 percent of people in Russia wanted to vote for a candidate, like me, who talks about peace. Borovsk looks like a painting: a picture of Russia I could imagine hanging in the Hermitage. As I talk to people it becomes clear that the Russia as seen on TV has many supporters. I hope Vladimir Putin will win the election and that it will end the war, Lyudmila tells me.

34;So many young men have been killed. When there#39;s peace many countries will finally understand that Russia is unbeatable. Nikolai will also be voting for the current president, apparently unfazed by two-and-a-half decades of Putin in power. 34;In a country of 145 million people, is there no one else who could do his job?

he asks.

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