Putin heads for commanding win in Russian poll

MOSCOW, Mar 18 (Agencies): From frustration with corruption and poverty to Moscow's showdown with the West, Russians shared their concerns as they voted in Sunday's presidential election that is set to extend President Vladimir Putin's Kremlin term to 2024.

Opinion polls give Putin, the incumbent, support of around 70 per cent, or nearly 10 times the backing of his nearest challenger.

Another term will take him to nearly a quarter century in power - a longevity among Kremlin leaders second only to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

Many voters credit Putin, a 65-year-old former KGB spy, with standing up for Russia's interests in what they view as a hostile outside world.

A row with Britain over allegations the Kremlin used a nerve toxin to poison a Russian double agent in a sleepy English town - denied by Moscow - has not dented his standing.

"Of course I'm for Putin, he's a leader," said Olga Matyunina, a 65-year-old retired economist.

"After he brought Crimea back, he became a hero to me. Last election I didn't vote for Putin. These last three or four years we've had sanctions but we've built a lot, we've opened a lot of new factories, inflation is low."

"I am for Putin. There is no alternative to him," said Valentina Popova, a 77-year-old Moscow retiree.

"I respect him for his foreign policies, otherwise Russia would perish. There's a lot that needs to be done inside the country."

Natalya Kononova, 41, a senior cashier, Moscow: "I am for Putin. We trust him. And voting is my civic duty."

Putin's opponents alleged officials were trying to inflate the turnout, by opening up stalls selling discounted goods at polling stations, and instructing state employees to report back to their bosses that they had voted.

Reuters reporters witnessed multiple people in different locations voting in groups, and then taking photos of themselves in front of the ballot boxes on their mobile phones.

In polling station 1515 in Zelenodolsk, 800 km (500 miles) east of Moscow, five people photographed themselves voting. Asked by a Reuters reporter why, one of the group, a young woman, said: "What do you mean why? It's a photographic report for our bosses."

At polling station number 216 in Ust-Djeguta, in the Karachayevo-Cherkessia region of southern Russia, Marina Kostina was marshalling groups of voters to be photographed. Asked why one woman was photographed, Kostina said: "Her work asked her to report in."

The first politician in years to challenge the Kremlin's grip on power, Alexei Navalny, is barred from the race because of a corruption conviction he says was fabricated by the Kremlin. He is calling for a boycott of the election, saying it is an undemocratic farce.

A day of voting across Russia's 11 time zones began at 2000 GMT on Saturday on Russia's eastern edge, in the Pacific coast city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Voting will run until polls close at the westernmost point of Russia, the Kaliningrad region on the Baltic Sea, at 1800 GMT on Sunday.

The majority of voters see no viable alternative to Putin: he has total dominance of the political scene and state-run television, where most people get their news, gives lavish coverage of Putin and little airtime to his rivals.