The future for the almost 150 million Russians is being decided this weekend as the Presidential Election is held. Vladimir Putin is sure to gain a new six-year term as only a token set of opponents have been allowed to stand in the election, which is internationally seen as a charade and non-democratic.
Russia is of course entangled in a bloody war with Ukraine and seem to have gained the initiative after a couple of hard years of fighting without coming close to their goal of deposing Volodymyr Zelenskyy and democratic rule in Ukraine.
In the days leading up to the Russian election, Ukrainian forces have engaged in increased aerial bombardments of the Russian border regions to Ukraine. Furthermore, the Russian national guard said on Thursday that it had repelled pro-Ukrainian militias near the cities of Kursk and Belgorod.
It's still somewhat unclear exactly what is going on in the Belgorod and Kursk regions, but it seems like the attacks are being carried out by pro-Ukrainian militias rather than the Ukrainian military itself.
Thursday evening, many reports emerged of heavy shelling of the city of Belgorod with many fires and widespread destruction being posted to social media on Friday morning. There was also reports of widespread panic and people fleeing Belgorod in anticipation of a full-scale military attack on the city.
While some border villages were apparently evacuated, the fears of massed attacks seems to be slightly exaggarated. The Ukrainian military is not about to invade Russian lands outright, but the militia attacks against Russian property and military targets in the border regions continue as the election weekend approaches.