Ukraine-Russia war live: Kremlin prepares for final day of elections as more drones hit Odessa

With the results of the vote already known in advance, it may be tempting to cast a blind eye to the proceedings, writes Mary Dejevsky. But after the death of Alexei Navalny, and uncertainty around Ukraine, things may not be quite as predictable as they seem…

Editorial: With little doubt over the ‘winner’ of this weekend’s Russian presidential election, the West should take heart that Putin finds himself isolated – and as his country recedes into Stalinism, so too does its economic prospects. His impoverishing of the Russian people will prove his undoing

One person died as fire broke out after Ukraine launched several drones at the Slavyansk oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region, official said on Sunday.

“The drones were neutralised, but a fire broke out as a result of the fall of one of the devices,” the operational headquarters of the region in southern Russia said.

The fire was extinguished and there were no casualties as a result of the fire itself, the administration said. Preliminary information indicated, however, one person had died of a heart attack, it added.

Roman Siniagovskyi, head of the Slavyansk administrative district, said on Telegram that the refinery workers were evacuated and there was no threat to nearby populated areas from the incident.

Starting with a call for citizens to head to the polls en masse at noon on Sunday – in a symbolic show of dissent – Russia’s opposition begins a new chapter in the wake of the death of Putin’s fiercest critic Alexei Navalny, writes Tom Watling

Russia’s air defence system has destroyed multiple drones flying towards Moscow early on Sunday, mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

The alleged attack comes on the third day of a sham Russian election, which president Vladimir Putin is expected to win.

One drone was destroyed in the Ramensky district of the Moscow region and one in the Stupinsky district, while two were downed earlier in the area of Domodedovo, the mayor said.

There were no casualties or damage reported, he added.

Askold Krushelnycky reports from Pavlohrad, southeastern Ukraine, where the latest in a number of convoys of vehicles and supplies is handed over to help Kyiv’s forces defend against Russia’s invasion

Media reports in Latvia say that the country’s state security service has started criminal proceedings against an European Parliament lawmaker and a citizen of the Baltic country who is suspected of cooperating with Russian intelligence and security services

The stage-managed vote will also take place in parts of Ukraine now controlled by Russian forces.

But with the election and candidates tightly controlled by the Kremlin, is the Russian election rigged, how does it work and what does it mean for Mr Putin? The Independent has put together all you need to know below.

It comes just days after it was revealed that an RAF jet transporting Mr Shapps back to England from Poland earlier this week had its GPS signal jammed while flying over the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Russia will be asked to observe a ceasefire in Ukraine during the Paris Olympics, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview from Paris shown on Ukrainian television and posted by a Ukrainian journalist on her YouTube channel on Saturday.

“The demand for a ceasefire during the Olympics. They (the Russians) must do this. That is what has always happened,” the interviewer said, speaking through an interpreter.

“It will be requested,” Macron says in French before a voiceover interpretation gives his response in Ukrainian as “Yes, we will ask for it.”

“The rule of the host country is to move in step with the Olympic movement,” the interpreter quoted Macron as saying. “This is a message of peace. We will also follow the decision of the Olympic Committee.”