Prime Minister Vladimir Putin voted on Sunday in presidential elections that see him bidding to return him to the Kremlin after a four-year hiatus.
“I had a good sleep, did some exercise and then came here,” Putin told journalists. "I am hoping for a good turnout, of course."
Putin and his wife Lyudmila - rarely seen in public of late - voted at the Russian Academy of Sciences in south-west Moscow.
Soon after Putin’s departure three topless women with the words “I steal for Putin” painted on their breasts burst into the polling station shouting anti-government slogans.
The women, who were immediately detained by police, told reporters they were activists from the Ukrainian Femen group, known for its topless protests, which have taken place in even the most extreme weather conditions.
Russians are voting on Sunday to elect a president for the fifth time in the nation’s post-Soviet history. Putin faces four opponents, none of which, analysts say, is likely to prove a serious threat to his bid.
Putin was president from 2000 to 2008 but was forced to stand down by the Constitution, which limits the presidency to two "consecutive" terms.
The elections are taking place to the backdrop of mass demonstrations that were triggered by allegations of vote fraud at December's parliamentary polls. None of the candidates opposing Putin represent the burgeoning protest movement, although all have - to some extent - expressed sympathy with its demands, which include a rerun of last year's vote.
Some 110 million Russian citizens, including 2 million expatriates around the world, are eligible to vote in the election. The winner will serve a six-year presidential term and not four, as was previously the case.
As of 1:00 p.m. Moscow time (09:00 a.m. GMT), turnout had exceeded 30 percent, the Central Election Commission said.
