"We vote for the country..."

Putin called on Russians to vote on changing the Constitution against the backdrop of a monument to Soviet soldiers who fought near Rzhev

Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the eve of the main voting day on changing the Constitution, made a new appeal to the Russians. He did this against the backdrop of a monument to Soviet soldiers who fought near Rzhev.

“They went into battle so that we could live under a peaceful sky, work, love, create, be proud of Russia - a country of unique civilization and great culture, a country where the destinies, hopes, aspirations of many generations of our ancestors are linked together. We, their heirs, continue this inextricable, thousand-year historical path. And we know that when we are together, even in a critical situation we can handle the most difficult tasks,” the president said .

According to him, “we are not just voting for amendments <…> we are voting for the country in which we want to live, with modern education and healthcare, with reliable social protection of citizens, with effective government accountable to society. We vote for the country we work for and we want to pass it on to our children and grandchildren.”

Speaking about the amendments, Putin used words about truth, justice, caring for loved ones, respect, stability, prosperity, patriotism, traditions, and memory of the achievements of ancestors. He did not say anything about the "zeroing" of his presidential terms.

Voting on amendments to the Constitution has been going on since June 25. For the first five days, the turnout was 45.7%, said Ella Pamfilova, head of the Central Election Commission. More than 90% of those who have such an opportunity voted electronically. The leader in turnout was Chechnya, where 75.8% of voters voted.