Putin Poised To Extend Rule For Six More Years

(AP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin is poised to extend his near-quarter-century rule for six more years in a vote that follows a relentless Kremlin crackdown on dissent. The three-day presidential election that wraps up Sunday has taken place in a tightly controlled environment where no public criticism of Putin and his war in Ukraine is allowed. Putin’s fiercest political foe, Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic penal colony last month and other critics are either in jail or in exile. The 71-year-old Russian leader faces three token rivals from Kremlin-friendly parties, who have refrained from any criticism of his 24-year rule or his invasion of Ukraine.