EMMA BURROWS

Russia and CIS reporter

Burrows is an Associated Press reporter covering Russia, Belarus, Central Asia and the Caucasus. She is based in London.

Voters queue at a polling station at noon local time in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, March 17, 2024. (AP Photo)

Putin hails electoral victory that was preordained, after harshly suppressing opposition voices

President Vladimir Putin is basking in a victory early that was never in doubt, as partial election results underlined the Russian leader’s total control of the country’s political system.

People hold sheets reading "enough" as they protest in downtown Tbilisi, Georgia, Sunday, March 17, 2024. Russians at home and abroad are heading to the polls for a presidential election that is all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin's rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo/Nicolo Vincenzo Malvestuto)

Putin basks in electoral victory that was never in doubt even as Russians quietly protest

Russian President Vladimir Putin is basking in a victory that was never in doubt, as partial election results showed him easily securing a fifth term after facing only token challengers and harshly suppressing opposition voices.

An elderly woman casts a ballot during a presidential election via a mobile election committee, who visit people who cannot physically attend a polling station, in Nikolayevka village outside Siberian city of Omsk, 2236 km (1397 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, March 16, 2024. Voters in Russia are heading to the polls for a presidential election that is all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin's rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo)

Russians cast ballots in an election preordained to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule

Voters across Russia have cast ballots on the second day of an election set to formalize six more years of power for Vladimir Putin.

A couple walk past billboards which promote the upcoming presidential election with words in Russian: "Your voice is important" in a street in Luhansk, the capital of Russian-controlled Luhansk region, eastern Ukraine, on Thursday, March 14, 2024. Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday called on people in Ukraine's occupied regions to vote, telling them and Russians that participation in the elections is "manifestation of patriotic feeling," Presidential elections are scheduled in Russia for March 17. (AP Photo)

Ukrainians living under Russian occupation are coerced to vote for Putin

Ukrainians living in regions illegally annexed by Russia are being coerced to vote in the presidential election of their wartime occupier, Vladimir Putin, an exercise denounced by Ukraine as an illegitimate effort by Moscow to tighten control over its neighbor.

A woman and child walk behind a "I Love Ukraine" sign in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 14, 2024. Ukraine fired at least eight missiles at Russia's Belgorod border region, killing one person and wounding six, local officials said Thursday, as Kyiv's forces apparently kept up their efforts to rattle the Kremlin on the eve of Russia's presidential election, a vote that is taking place amid a ruthless crackdown on dissent. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Russia says Ukraine has fired more missiles at a border region on the eve of election favoring Putin

Russian officials say Ukraine has fired at least eight missiles at the Belgorod border region, killing two people and wounding 12.

Vladimir Putin, center, attends a Christmas service in Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, Jan. 8, 2000. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze, File)

On Russian TV ahead of the election, there’s only one program: Putin’s

Russian President Vladimir Putin came to power almost 25 years ago and since then he’s eliminated nearly all independent media — a process he ramped up after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

A woman places a piece of paper with words of grief for Alexei Navalny paying the last respect to him at the Memorial to Victims of Political Repression in St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. Navalny, 47, Russia's most well-known opposition politician, unexpectedly died on Feb. 16 in the penal colony, prompting hundreds of Russians across the country to stream to impromptu memorials with flowers and candles. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

The body of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been handed over to his mother, aide says

An aide to Alexei Navalny says the body of the Russian opposition leader has been handed over to his mother.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, listens to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

So many sanctions on Russia. How much impact do they really have?

The United States, United Kingdom and European Union are once again hitting Russia with new waves of sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

FILE - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, right, and his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, left, attend an opposition rally outside the Kremlin in Moscow on June 12, 2013. Navalnaya used to largely avoid the cameras, staying in the background while her husband rose to become President Vladimir Putin's greatest challenger. Shortly after his death, that changed as she vowed to continue his work. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

Yulia Navalnaya once avoided the limelight. Now she’s Russia’s newest opposition leader

Yulia Navalnaya used to avoid the cameras, staying in the background while her husband rose to become Russia’s most prominent opposition figure and President Vladimir Putin’s greatest foe.

In this grab taken from video provided by the Navalny Team on Tuesday. Feb. 20, 2024, Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny's mother Lyudmila Navalnaya speaks, near the prison colony in the town of Kharp, Russia. The mother of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appealed to President Vladimir Putin to intervene and turn her son’s body over to her so she can bury him with dignity. Lyudmila Navalnaya, who has been trying to get his body since Saturday, appeared in a video outside the Arctic penal colony where Navalny died on Friday. (Navalny Team via AP)

Navalny’s mother appeals to Putin to release her son’s body so she can bury him with dignity

The mother of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appealed to President Vladimir Putin to intervene and turn her son’s body over to her so she can bury him with dignity.

A flower and a picture are left as a tribute to Russian politician Alexi Navalny, near to the Russian Embassy in London, Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024. Navalny, who crusaded against Russian corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests as President Vladimir Putin's fiercest foe, died Friday in the Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence, Russia's prison agency said. He was 47. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Most of Russia’s opposition is either dead, in exile abroad or in prison at home. What happens now?

The Russian opposition lost its brightest star when politician Alexei Navalny died in an Arctic penal colony.

A woman touches a photo of Alexei Navalny after laying flowers paying the last respect to him at the Memorial to Victims of Political Repression in St. Petersburg, Russia on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. Russian authorities say that Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests, died in prison. He was 47. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Kremlin foe Alexei Navalny’s team confirms his death and says his mother is searching for his body

Alexei Navalny’s spokesperson has confirmed that the Russian opposition leader died at a remote Arctic penal colony and says he was “murdered.”

A portrait of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and flowers are pictured as people gather near to Russian embassy to France, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024 in Paris. Alexei Navalny, Russia's top opposition leader and President Vladimir Putin's fiercest foe, died in prison on Friday, a statement from the Federal Penitentiary Service said. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Nerve agents, poison and window falls. Kremlin foes have been attacked or killed over the years

Kremlin critics, turncoat spies and investigative journalists have been attacked or killed in a variety of ways.

A coffin of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is carried to the entrance of the Borisovskoye Cemetery during the funeral ceremony, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 1, 2024. Under a heavy police presence, thousands of people bade farewell Friday to Alexei Navalny at his funeral in Moscow after his still-unexplained death two weeks ago in an Arctic penal colony. (AP Photo)

Protests, poisoning and prison: The life and death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny

Alexei Navalny, Russia’s top opposition leader and President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe, has been buried in Moscow, two weeks after his still-mysterious death in an Arctic prison.

FILE - In this handout photo taken from a footage provided by Moscow City Court, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny shows a heard symbol standing in the cage during a hearing to a motion from the Russian prison service to convert the suspended sentence of Navalny from the 2014 criminal conviction into a real prison term in the Moscow City Court in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. (Moscow City Court via AP, File)

Alexei Navalny, galvanizing opposition leader and Putin’s fiercest foe, died in prison, Russia says

Navalny, who was serving a 19-year sentence, felt unwell after a walk, according to the Federal Penitentiary Service, and lost consciousness. An ambulance arrived to try to revive him, but he died. It said the cause of death was “being established.”

In this photo provided by Kharkiv regional Governor Oleh Sunyiehubov, firefighters examine the site of Russia's missile attack that hit an apartment building in Kharkiv Region, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb.15, 2024. (Kharkiv Regional Governor Oleh Sunyiehubov Office/ via AP)

6 people are killed, 18 injured by a missile strike in the Russian city of Belgorod, officials say

Officials say a missile strike on the Russian city of Belgorod near the Ukraine border has killed six people, including a child, and injured 18 others, in what appears to be the latest exchange of long-range missile and rocket fire between the two countries.

FILE - Tucker Carlson, host of "Tucker Carlson Tonight," poses for photos in a Fox News Channel studio on March 2, 2017, in New York. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been interviewed by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, the Kremlin confirmed Wednesday. It is Putin's first interview to a Western journalist since the beginning of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Russia says former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has interviewed Vladimir Putin

The Kremlin confirms that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been interviewed by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

FILE - In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi, front, attends an event for marking Statehood Day in Mykhailivska Square in Kyiv, on July 28, 2023. Rifts within Ukraine’s top leadership have burst into the open following swirling rumors that Ukraine’s top military chief will be dismissed amid reported tensions with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The rumors that Zaluzhnyi was being sacked were denied by Zelenskyy’s office and the Defense Ministry this week and the immensely popular top commander still retains his post. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP, File)

Rumors that Ukraine’s top commander may be dismissed expose rifts in Ukraine top brass

Reports have emerged that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy plans to fire the country’s popular top military leader.

FILE - Chelsea's soccer club owner Roman Abramovich attends the UEFA Women's Champions League final soccer match against FC Barcelona in Gothenburg, Sweden, May 16, 2021. UK lawmakers said in a report Wednesday it's “incomprehensible” why funds from the sale of the Chelsea football club have not gone to support Ukraine, almost two years after former club owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, promised to use them to help Ukrainians. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

UK lawmakers are annoyed that Abramovich’s frozen Chelsea funds still haven’t been used for Ukraine

U.K. lawmakers have expressed frustration that funds from the sale of the Chelsea soccer club have not yet gone to support Ukrainian war victims as was promised nearly two years ago by the former owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

FILE – Liberal Russian politician Boris Nadezhdin speaks to journalists in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023, after submitting documents to Russia's Central Election Committee for the March 17 presidential election. Thousands of people across Russia are signing petitions to support Nadezhdin’s the longshot candidacy as he challenges President Vladimir Putin. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

An unlikely challenger to Putin brings a rare show of defiance, creating a dilemma for the Kremlin

Thousands of people across Russia are signing petitions to support the longshot candidacy of Boris Nadezhdin.

FILE - Darya Trepova, a suspect in a bombing that killed a well-known Russian military blogger, attends a court hearing in the Basmanny District Court, in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, June 1, 2023. The Russian authorities on Friday sought a 28-year prison sentence for Trepova over the bombing at a St. Petersburg cafe that killed a prominent Russian military blogger and injured over 50 others. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

Russian prosecutors seek lengthy prison terms for suspects in cases linked to the war in Ukraine

A Russian court in Siberia has sentenced a man to 19 years in prison for shooting a military enlistment officer in an attack last September linked to the war in Ukraine.

FILE - Demonstrators gather outside the home of Russian ambassador Sergei Netshaev in Berlin, Saturday Dec. 16, 2023, demanding the freedom for all political prisoners in Russia, including Alexei Navalny. Allies of the imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny say they are searching for him for a 13th day after he failed to appear in court. Navalny’s spokesperson wrote on social media that that Navalny had multiple hearings scheduled Monday, Dec. 18, 2023. (Paul Zinken/dpa via AP, File)

UN expert expresses concern as Russian opposition leader Navalny disappears in prison system

The United Nations’ special rapporteur for human rights in Russia says she is concerned about imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

A woman holds her child waving a national flag as they celebrate Georgia's EU candidacy at Liberty Square in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. Several thousand people attend a march in support of Georgia's EU candidacy. European Union flags waved across Georgia Friday after the European Council took a step forward along the long road towards granting Georgia and Moldova as EU membership. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Moldova and Georgia celebrate as their aspirations for EU membership take crucial steps forward

Moldova and Georgia celebrated after European Union leaders buoyed their aspirations to join the 27 member nation bloc by removing key hurdles on their long path toward membership.

FILE - Richard Moore, the Chief of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, answers questions at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, in London, on Nov. 30, 2021. The head of Britain's foreign intelligence agency has thanked Russian state television for encouraging Russians to spy for the UK after it broadcast part of a speech he gave earlier this year. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

MI6 chief thanks Russian state television for its ‘help’ in encouraging Russians to spy for the UK

The head of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency has thanked Russian state television for encouraging Russians to spy for the U.K. after it broadcast part of a speech he gave calling on Russians to join hands with British intelligence.

This photo taken from video released by telegram channel Navalny's team on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, shows as a person points a smartphone at a billboard with the words Happy New Year and the QR code in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Anti-Corruption Foundation, which was set up by jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny, took out billboards in Moscow, St Petersburg and other cities which wished Russians a Happy New Year. But the website on the posters and the QR code led to a website with their campaign against the president called 'Russia without Putin,' in which the group call on Russians to vote against him in the March 17 election. (telegram channel Navalny's team via AP)

Allies of Russian opposition leader Navalny post billboards asking citizens to vote against Putin

Opposition activists in Russia came up with a way to get around Kremlin censorship while urging citizens to vote against President Vladimir Putin in an election next year: billboards disguised as a New Year’s greeting.

FILE - In this file photo taken on Sept. 21, 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to Yandex CEO Arkady Volozh, right, during his visits Russia's largest internet search engine Yandex headquarters in Moscow, Russia. Volozh has been one of Russia's wealthy businessmen to have condemned Moscow's invasion of Ukraine as "barbaric,' but he has remained on the European Union's sanctions list. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

The West has sanctioned Russia’s rich. But is that really punishing Putin and helping Ukraine?

Western officials say sanctions against Russia’s billionaires are meant to isolate President Vladimir Putin, choke off support for his war and turn powerful business allies against him.

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to Sergey Mironov, 70, the leader of political party A Just Russia in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 14, 2023. A Russian lawmaker and staunch supporter of President Vladimir Putin, Mironov has denied media allegations that he adopted a 2-year-old girl who was seized from a Ukrainian children's home and changed her name in Russia. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

Russian lawmaker disputes report saying he adopted a child taken from a Ukrainian children’s home

A Russian lawmaker and staunch supporter of President Vladimir Putin has denied media allegations that he adopted a 2-year-old girl who was seized from a Ukrainian children’s home and changed her name.

In this photo released by The State Duma, Russian lawmakers attend a session at the State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament in Moscow, Russia, on Friday, Nov. 17, 2023. The lower house of Russia's parliament, the State Duma, has passed a record federal budget which aims to increase spending by around 25% in 2024, with record amounts going to defense. (The State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament via AP)

Russian lawmakers approve a budget with a record amount devoted to defense spending

The lower house of Russia’s parliament has approved a federal budget Friday that increases spending by around 25% in 2024 and devotes a record amount to defense.

Russian soldier back from Ukraine taught a school lesson and then beat up neighbors, officials say

A Russian soldier recently returned from fighting in Ukraine went to teach schoolchildren about Russia’s military campaign there before later beating up his neighbors, Russian news outlet Ostorozhno Novosti reported on its Telegram channel.

In this photo released by The State Duma, speaker of the State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament Vyacheslav Volodin, right, arrives to attend a session at the State Duma, in Moscow, Russia, on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023. Russia's State Duma passed a record federal budget in its second reading which aims to increase spending by around 25% in 2024, with record amounts going on defense. (The State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament via AP)

A record Russian budget will boost defense spending, shoring up Putin’s support ahead of election

Russia’s State Duma passed a record federal budget in its second reading which aims to increase spending by around 25% in 2024, with record amounts going on defense.