Woman Caught Crawling Into Polling Center 'In Russia' To 'Throw in Ballots'

A video shared on social media appears to show a woman crawling into a polling center in Russia to throw in ballots during the March 15 to 17 presidential election.

The clip, posted on X, formerly Twitter, by user "Maks_NAFO_FELLA," who shares updates about the ongoing war in Ukraine, shows a woman crawling into the polling center on her knees, before she starts adding ballots to an existing pile. A security guard seems to take no notice, and another woman joins to assist the first individual in adding ballots.

Russia's elections have historically been marred by manipulation, ballot stuffing and forced voting. President Vladimir Putin's biggest critics are typically barred from running for president, while opposition figures have often been jailed or are exiled.

"'Elections' in Russia: a woman crawled on her knees to the polling station to discreetly throw in ballots. The guard, seeing all this, simply left," the X user said.

Agentstvo, a Russian investigative site, reported that the location filmed "is similar" to a polling station on Lermontovsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg, Russia.

"We have collected photographs taken at this site during the last elections. One of them even shows a camera that could film everything," the publication said.

The news outlet said a poster near the ballot box in the video had information on this year's four presidential candidates—Putin, Nikolai Kharitonov, Leonid Slutsky, and Vladislav Davankov.

Newsweek couldn't independently verify when or where the video was filmed, and has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment by email.

In this year's election, the Central Election Commission said on Monday that Putin won 87.3 percent of the vote on a record turnout of 77.5 percent.

Putin credited the turnout to huge public support.

"All the plans we have created to develop Russia will certainly be carried out and their goals achieved," Putin told reporters in Moscow of the results. "We have come up with grandiose plans and will do everything to carry them out."

The United States has denounced Putin's claim of a landslide election victory and labeled the ballot as "obviously not free nor fair." Voting results also included totals from five regions of Ukraine that are occupied by Russia.

The election was also condemned by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky who said: "These days, the Russian dictator is simulating another election."

"It is clear to everyone in the world that this figure, as it has already often happened in the course of history, is simply sick for power and is doing everything to rule forever," Zelensky added.

The French Foreign Ministry said that France "does not recognize, and will never recognize, the holding and the results of these so-called elections and reaffirms its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Ukraine."

On Monday, independent Russian publication Meduza reported that a Russian polling district in southern Siberia scrambled to recount votes after presidential candidate Nikolai Kharitonov received more votes than Putin in the election.

Voting results were recounted at a polling station in the city of Barnaul in the Altai Republic after the Russian electoral commission found a "technical error." It resulted in veteran candidate Kharitonov of the Communist Party receiving 763 votes—10 times more than the number of votes for Putin, the publication said.

The Kremlin did not comment on the claims.

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