The photo was taken in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk.
On March 15, 2024, a photograph of an elderly woman casting a vote in the presence of an armed and masked soldier went viral on Reddit with the caption "today is the day of Russian presidential 'elections.'"
While it is correct to describe this photograph as depicting someone voting in Russia's 2024 presidential election, it is important to note that the photo was taken in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk. This photo was shared widely on multiple social media platforms as a symbol of what experts say was an illegitimate election certain to provide current Russian President Vladimir Putin with the power to rule the Russian Federation for another six years.
Early voting for residents of regions under Russian military occupation began on March 10. Other photos, and also a video, depict this same event:
Though voting in these elections is not technically mandatory, troops and election officials have gone door-to-door to get people in at least some parts of occupied Ukraine to vote.
As reported by the U.S. think tank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) on March 10, 2024, Ukrainian officials expected Russians to use allegedly high turnout in the elections to falsely legitimize their occupation:
Ukrainian Luhansk Oblast Military Administration Head Artem Lysohor stated that 2,600 Luhansk People's Republic (LNR) election commission officials have been conducting door-to-door campaigning for the past 20 days.
Ukrainian officials stated that Russian occupation officials intend to claim a 94 percent voter turnout in occupied Ukraine. ISW continues to assess that the Kremlin and Russian occupation officials intend to falsify votes in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin and fabricate a large voter turnout in an attempt to legitimize Russia's occupation of Ukraine to the international community.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Ukrainian citizens won't face repercussions for voting under what he considers to be coerced conditions. As reported by the independent Russian outlet Times of Moscow, Putin has three "opponents" in the 2024 presidential election that are effectively controlled by the Kremlin:
Running against [Putin] are Vladislav Davankov of the New People party, Leonid Slutsky of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) and Nikolai Kharitonov of the Communist Party. Though they are campaigning on different platforms, all are widely seen as backed by the Kremlin.
Opposition candidate Alexei Navalny, whose political party was banned by Putin, was arrested by Russian authorities in 2021. Navalny died in Russian custody on Feb. 16, 2024. The next Russian president takes office on May 7, 2024.
Because this photo does indeed show someone voting in Russia's 2024 presidential elections in the presence of an armed and masked soldier, we rate the claim as "True."