Rigging the vote: how Putin always wins Russia's elections – video explainer

Over more than two decades in power, Vladimir Putin's government has crafted a template for winning elections and quashing any dissent. He became acting president when Boris Yeltsin resigned on 31 December 1999, and won the election the next year. He has already served as Russian leader for longer than any other ruler but Joseph Stalin and later in March, he is expected to sweep the vote to claim his fifth presidential term in stage-managed elections no one doubts he will win.