Belgorod favors Putin despite Ukraine war on doorstep

STORY: Air raid sirens are an almost daily disturbance for the southern Russian city of Belgorod.

The rush for cover a reminder of the full-scale war with Ukraine that exists over the border only 25 miles from the city.

Scores of civilians have been killed in drone and missile strikes from Ukraine since February 2022.

Kyiv denies targeting civilians just as Moscow does, despite Russia having launched drones and missiles against Ukraine killing thousands of civilians and causing hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of damage.

Comparatively Belgorod remains largely unscathed.

But in the worst civilian loss of life from foreign enemy fire in internationally recognized Russian territory since World War Two, 25 were killed and more than a hundred wounded in missile attacks on the city in December last year.

As the three-day presidential election began on Friday (March 15), a missile alert forced election officials to take shelter at a polling station.

Voting was briefly halted, according to Russia's RIA state news agency.

Despite the constant threat, Putin's popularity remains strong.

Supplies for soldiers are collected by civilian volunteers like Galina, to help bring the conflict to an end, she says.

She told Reuters her decision to vote for Putin is clear.

"There's no options. At the moment, there is no person who could be opposed to our president. This is the only person who has strengthened all the positions of our country since he came to power: financially, economically, politically. I believe that the work that he has now started in terms of a special military operation, he must complete it."

In Shebekino, just four miles from the border, pensioner Valentina feels the same.

"I will vote for Putin. Whom else would I choose? He seems to be a clever man, I think so. Although my in-law doesn't agree with me. But I tell her: 'No, we should vote for Putin'."

Over 600 children were moved away from the town after it was hit by shelling in May and June last year.

Valentina hopes the war will end soon and that people who left would come back.

''Of course they do, everyone wants to come back home."