Voting has begun in Russia's presidential election, which is all but certain to hand Vladimir Putin another six years in power,
BBC reports.
Ballots will be cast over three days, even though the result is not in doubt as he has no credible opponent.
Polling stations opened in the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia's easternmost region, at 08:00 local time on Friday (20:00 GMT on Thursday) and will finally close in the westernmost Kaliningrad exclave at 20:00 on Sunday.
It was at a grand military awards ceremony last December that Vladimir Putin, 71, told the Russian public he would stand for the presidency for a fifth time.
At the solemn event, held in one of the Kremlin's most opulent halls, Russia's leader of 24 years had just handed out top honours to soldiers who had taken part in Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine.
He was chatting with a small group of participants when the commander of a pro-Russian unit in Ukraine's occupied Donetsk region approached him.
"We need you, Russia needs you!" declared Lt-Col Artyom Zhoga, asking him to run as a candidate in Russia's forthcoming presidential election. Everyone voiced their support.
Vladimir Putin nodded: "Now is the time for making decisions. I will be running for the post of president of the Russian Federation."
His spokesman Dmitry Peskov later described the decision to run as "absolutely spontaneous". But the Kremlin rarely leaves its choreography to chance.
Instead, straight away its well-oiled media machine swung into action.
On all state channels, 71-year-old President Putin was promoted as a national leader who stood head and shoulders above any potential rivals.
"Support for the president transcends party support alone," reported one correspondent on state TV news later that week. "Vladimir Putin is the people's candidate!"
He has already been in power in Russia longer than any ruler since Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
He has been president since 2000, apart from four years as prime minister because of a two-term limit imposed by the Russian constitution.
He has since changed the rules to give himself a clean slate to run again in 2024 by "switching back to zero" his previous terms. That means he could also run for another six-year term in 2030, when he will turn 78.
Joining Russia's leader on the ballot will be Nikolai Kharitonov, representing the Communist Party, which remains Russia's second most popular party, more than 30 years since the fall of the Soviet Union. It draws its support from a small but loyal base of those nostalgic for their Soviet past.
The other two candidates are Leonid Slutsky of the nationalist LDPR and Vladislav Davankov of the New People, ostensibly a liberal, pro-business party.
Despite their vastly different political standings, all three broadly back the Kremlin's policies - and none stands a chance against the incumbent.
Another hopeful - local Moscow councillor Boris Nadezhdin - announced his candidacy last year, generating a rare moment of optimism for opposition-minded voters.
He was a frequent guest on talk shows on state TV and had been relatively critical of Moscow's war in Ukraine.
But in a country where many have been jailed for speaking out against the war, he would never make the ballot paper.
Thousands queued up to offer signatures in his support, and perhaps spooked by the crowds, Russia's election authorities rejected his bid, claiming that more than 15% of his collected signatures were flawed.
