with the first results expected when the final polling stations close in russia's western exclave kaliningrad as much as you want these cannot reports this year's election has been marked by unprecedented public activity. every hour more polling stations open in russia as the country stretches through nine time zones which means night the voting began in the most eastern parts of the crunching when it was still midnight in moscow and killing right region in the most western parts of russia will be the last to join the vote it's happening at a very interesting time i mean a spike in social and political activity among the public we've seen massive rallies for and against the candidates we've also seen scores of people taking to the streets after the parliamentary election in december i mean accusations of ballot fraud and a massive social campaign for a transparent presidential poll is underway and indeed a lot has been done in that sense over ninety thousand polling stations have been equipped with cameras to feed videos including close up shots. boxes on portals so that internet users can wa

stations across russia have now opened their voting just on the way in the west embrace teachin of kaliningrad let's now talk to our t's alexy . let's see well the whole country is now voting so who have been the most high profile voters so far. indeed from. all polling stations have opened across the country with high turnout already reported in the eastern region some russian in the far east and siberia and central russia as well already we understand that you have a block of one of the presidential candidates or has already cast his ballot in his whole region of krasnoyarsk and he returned from moscow we also expect and of course all other presidential candidates will be voting in moscow all throughout the day indeed we're in for some interesting thirteen hours or so until nine pm moscow time when all polling stations close across the country and we will be expecting the first exit polls exit poll results to come out there will certainly be covering all the latest information will be bringing all the latest details right this very interesting and crucial fateful day for russia and let's see

all the cities in the same time zone as well as in the russia's most western point the city of kaliningrad we expect that the polling stations will be closed at nine pm most go time that's when we'll also receive the first exit poll results which will certainly deliver to our viewers now the turnout has already been reported higher at this stage than at this very same time back in two thousand and eight during the previous presidential election when to stand out there around thirty percent of the voters have already cast their ballots around the country now we also understand that all of the presidential candidates and all of the v.i.p.'s have already placed their votes as well which in the current prime minister has voted with his wife as well as he's main rival the man who is expected to challenge him the leader of the communist party tonight he's going to also visiting the polling station in moscow to place his vote certainly a very interesting day ahead of us and certainly we're waiting until the nine pm local time when the polling stations will close and we'll have some results to bri

the first exit polls will be released when boating in the westernmost city of kaliningrad konstanz the question them will any of the candidates have that much needed fifty percent to avoid a second round it's a democrat r t more scale and of course will be bringing you special coverage of the election here on r.t. sort of at five pm g.m.t. on sunday for the latest results and alice's candidates reaction and already you can find additional information on our web site or to dot com there you will find a contender profiles a retrospective of previous ballots and the answers to questions such as what makes an ideal leader in the russians plus you can watch and vote online others have a bunch more at our to dot com. a suicide car bomber has struck in the southern syrian city of tehran killing at least seven people and wounding several others it is the latest in a series of bombings targeting pro government neighborhoods this comes amid reports that over one hundred mercenaries many of them french have been caught as they fled the city of homes or to use them or if an ocean has the latest fr

indeed the moment of truth now that all the stations were shut down in the western most city of kaliningrad the median bardon figures has been lifted and we see. this calculator life on these cranes of the central election committee. meeting on saturday two likely putin. was leading now sixty one points eighty one percent coming in second days i mean that these are gonna. be the new communist party of prostrate are you. getting seventeen point eight percent number is that a candidate from the liberal democratic party of russia. years receiving eight percent of the vote. into condoms a candidate. getting seventy two point six percent has no knowledge only the last on the list is. near on us here as we point six percent he is a candidate from a just russia not sure of how is it now the turnout in the presidential election of two thousand and twelve is reported to stand at your feet to the six groups sons with these elections definitely goes down in history as the most helos a morning toward if you want the most transparent one and by far the most expensive or equipping all ninety eight thousa

confines its activities to its own territory a radar station is being put on combat duty in the kaliningrad region russia's western. systems are being deployed in the country's west and so they could hit any target within a radius of up to five hundred kilometers. what is most important is that the russian ballistic missiles are being gradually equipped with warheads capable of overcoming nature's missile defense system. and. this lift carries people down to a secret radar station in european russia it's tucked away deep underground in a few minutes time major will be on duty to protect russia's space. to get everything about the station is classified the equipment behind these doors is the responsibility of special officers the station itself can operate autonomously it has its own power source and water supply and a ventilation system. washington knows only too well that russia can easily control the entire space of eastern europe this is one of the instruments a military installation protects the moscow region from attack by ballistic missiles it's thought to be controlled by russia's pr

kinder than kaliningrad yeah i mean i have not heard of any other country measures kind of that that have been put on the table but they should be the last in mexico that's the that is going to yeah yeah so but and but even that is of course kind of very very easy for europe it's a very uncomfortable threat. and he basically it's clear from the article that missile defense remains in terms of security international security in a v the toughest and the most painful issue. in the relationship between between russia and the united states and russia and nato and now let's you know the quote here's what put in reality about neglecting some major principles theorize ations coexistence. major principles necessary for any usable civilization would indeed be usable security to a state the unacceptability of excessive use of force and the unconditional observance of the basic standards of international law the neglect of a neo pleased to introduce can only be just to do is ation of international relations it is through this prison but we do see some aspects of us that need to construct that co

believe the result the first exit polls will be released one voting in the westernmost city of kaliningrad comes to an end the question then will any of the candidates have that much needed fifty percent to avoid a second round if they didn't actually r t more skill. well you can watch our special election coverage throughout sunday and monday as we bring you the latest figures of a variety of opinions across the political spectrum here in r.t. . now to our top stories of the week fears of outside interference in the syrian conflict have resurfaced more than one hundred suspected most nerys many of them french have been caught trying to flee the city of homs a senior rebel leader also claimed his militia group had been supplied with french and american weapons and even anti aircraft in the start and that's reformation reports more arms could mean bloodshed. the borders the walls and just hate despite international isolation syria's borders have remained opened and easy to pass through and that may have played a crucial role in libya the drays ation of the country's conflict almost immediat

believe the result the first exit polls will be released when boating in the westernmost city of kaliningrad comes to an end the question then will any of the candidates have bet much needed fifty percent to avoid a second round if you look at actual r t scale. and you can watch our special election coverage throughout sunday and monday as we bring you the latest figures under variety of opinions across the political spectrum not. dot com is showing you the votes actually being cast on that web site streams and the live feeds from cameras installed at polling stations. on our web site about the candidates running russia. and what they're promising. much more in our special election pages. two other top stories of the week fears of outside interference in the syrian conflict have resurfaced one hundred suspected mercenaries and even french have been caught trying to flee the city of homs and senior rebel leader also claimed his militia group had been supplied with french and american weapons and even the aircraft in assad's. reports were wrong could mean that shit. but the borders those and w

believe the results the first exit polls will be released when boating in the westernmost city of kaliningrad comes to an end the question then will any of the candidates have that much needed eighty percent to avoid a second round if they didn't actually r t is. certainly interesting times rush a lot has been speculated on life before and after the election and to talk about the economic aspect of it we're joined live by ed across the economist many thanks for joining us here in in rather cold temperatures in moscow my first question to you well obviously russia has not been touched by the financial crisis as have the united states and the european union how do you view the economic policies of the current people at our well i think they've done an extraordinarily good job if i look at what the central bank of russia did in two thousand and eight where there was a sudden withdrawal of credit outflow of western capital they managed to salvage the banking sector they managed to salvage the industrial sector and especially they managed to do with without bankrupting the entire country we see wh

believe the result the first exit polls will be released one voting in the westernmost city of kaliningrad comes to an end the question then will any of the candidates have that much needed fifty percent to avoid a second round if the democrats are t. more skilled. well you can watch our special election coverage throughout sunday and monday nights are bringing the latest figures on a variety of opinions across the political spectrum here in r.t. . about this and other top stories of the week fears of outside interference in the syrian conflict have resurfaced more than a hundred suspected mercenaries and french court trying to flee the city a senior rebel leader also claims that this group had been supplied with french and american weapons even id aircraft missiles and it's refreshing reports almost could mean much. the borders those and to a state despite international isolation syria's borders have remained opened and easy to pass through and that may have played a crucial role in the military as asian of the country's conflict almost immediately after the crisis began here last march t

believe the result the first exit polls will be released one voting in the westernmost city of kaliningrad comes to an end the question then will any of the candidates have that much needed fifty percent to avoid a second round exit in the direction of r r t more still. getting a larger reaction now from moscow based political analyst sergei mark of both for joining us so pre-election polls indicated a widening reporting is still. the country's most popular politician though there are some western media that criticize and some comment commentators analysts who do occasionally vilify him do you think what do you think is the basis of that in the face of his popularity here in russia. i seek now will have been have put i don't know what is outs. but e.q. some like join my good sir return to rational buy out. more want those or. we can mobilize you and you'll hear it also when you see some protest demonstrations more severe because. action order generators and that's it if i don't know who or what he wanted from the muscovites against russia it seems if you're not in the russia's many countri

the first exit polls will do at least one voting in the westernmost city off kaliningrad konstanz the question then will any of the candidates have that much needed fifty percent to avoid a second round it's exceedingly grandchildren r t will stand and stand with our election coverage the first of russia's presidential contenders has cast his ballot . prokhorov cast his ballot in the siberian city of krasnoyarsk tycoon it turned politician is the only one out of the five candidates with no previous experience of running for president the billionaire promises of reforms to the country's electoral system in order to reflect the interests of all religious groups parties who was rules you're going to preach is going through and of course we'll be bringing you special coverage of the election here on archie starting at five pm g.m.t. on sunday tune in for the latest results analysis and candidates reaction and already you can find additional information on our website or to dot com there you will find content or profiles a retrospective of previous ballots and answers to questions such as

believe the result the first exit polls will be released one voting in the westernmost city of kaliningrad comes to an end the question then will any of the candidates have that much needed eighty percent to avoid a second round it in a gradual r t. so you're with us here on r.t. for up to the minute coverage of the election from the heart of moscow as the votes are cast and counted. turning now to some of the week's other top stories fears of a foreign role in the syrian violence escalated this week government forces say they have arrested more than one hundred mercenaries mostly arabs and even some europeans and attempts to smuggle weapons into the country were reportedly being stepped up our team summary of the notion of reports. but the borders doors and windows do est despite international isolation syria's borders have remained opened and easy to pass through and that may have played a crucial role in the militarization of the country's conflict almost immediately after the crisis began here last margin there were reports of graph is being smuggled through to on president al assad's

the present ads of poles will do at least one voting in the westernmost city of kaliningrad comes to an end the question then will any of the candidates have that much needed eighty percent to avoid a second round if they don't look at actual r t scale. and we will be bringing you special coverage of the election right here on our tree starting at five pm at g.m.t. on sunday tune in for the latest results and analysis and candidates reaction and already you can find additional information on our website or to dot com there you'll find a contender profiles a retrospective of previous ballots and the answers to questions such as what makes an ideal leader in the opinion of russians all of us and much much more of our she'd become. a suicide car bomber has struck in the southern syrian city of garage killing at least seven people and wounding several others it is the latest in a series of bombings targeting pro-government neighborhoods this comes amid reports that over one hundred mercenaries many of them french have been caught as they were fleeing the city of homes or to use where if

believe the result the first exit polls will do at least one boat saying in the westernmost city of kaliningrad konstanz the question them will any of the candidates have that much needed fifty percent to avoid a second round if the democrats are t. more scale you can watch our special election coverage throughout sunday and monday as we bring you the latest figures on a variety of opinions across the political spectrum here on r.t. . turning out of the week's other top stories china has called for an immediate cease fire in syria and urged all parties in the conflict when gaging talks beijing also calling for unity at the u.n. security council which is now considering a new resolution after two previous motions were table by china and russia the chinese are also warning against the use of humanitarian aid as a create text for a foreign interference in syrian affairs this as the red cross says it's being prevented from helping the worst hit areas of the city of homs orrible stronghold that had come under intense syrian army bombardment the capture of one hundred suspected mercenaries trying to

believe the result the first exit polls will be released one voting in the westernmost city of kaliningrad comes to an end the question then will any of the candidates have that much needed fifty percent to avoid a second round if they didn't graduate r r t more scale and stay with us for up to the minute coverage of the russian election from the heart of moscow as the votes are cast and counted. turning now to the week's other top stories fears of a foreign role in the syrian violence escalated this week government forces say they've arrested more than one hundred mercenaries mostly arabs and even some europeans and attempts to smuggle weapons into the country were reportedly being stacked up our teams were if it has been. their bosses those and to the state despite international isolation series borders have remained opened and easy to pass through and that may have played a crucial role in the militarization of the country's conflict almost immediately after the crisis began here last march they were reports of the effort has been smuggled through to arm president al assad's opponents o

our voting finished in the country's west most city of kaliningrad and that's when the count began and we understand that the most final results prelim results will be announced early on monday when the count is almost complete and then we'll know we might of course know early of whether we'll be talking about the second round in the selection we know that supporters of let him are pushing are already celebrating a victory but it's still in question still half of the ballots are to be counted and still have to see if that gets that much needed fifty percent of the vote to avoid a second round and if he fails to do so the question of who would be running against him in a second round is very much alive. but with tears in his eyes were as you were told a vast crowd of cheering supporters that he delivered on his promise to win this election but see how things are going down and putin's election headquarters where to meet me makes me think oh is following developments for us there dimitri although not all ballots have been counted it looks like putin supporters are already celebrating vic