Russian election 2018: CCTV suggests BLATANT rigging as ballot boxes STUFFED with papers

According to exit polls, Mr Putin has secured a record fourth term as president after receiving 73.9 percent of the vote.

But CCTV footage said to be taken from inside a polling centre in the Moscow suburb of Lyubertsy appears to show an election official assisting Mr Putin to secure his landslide victory by stuffing a stash of pre-completed voting slips into a ballot box.

Shortly after the first official places the stack of papers inside, a second official adds more.

In another video, reportedly taken in Dagestan, a man can be seen filling a ballot box with voting slips while a woman stands guard.

A third clip from a separate polling station in the same region appears to show a group of men pushing away election observers while another man stuffs the ballot box with voting slips.

As in the UK, election officials are supposed to guarantee the integrity and fairness of the poll, but this footage appears to show blatant cheating.

The allegations of ballot stuffing come amid claims of other dishonest practices during today’s election, including allegations officials had bribed people to visit polling stations.

In the Khabarovsk region officials reportedly delivered supplies of eggs, tinned peas and frozen pike to polling stations and offered discount prices on the products for those who cast their vote.

More to follow…

(Additional reporting by Will Stewart.)