In Yekaterinburg, observers were asked to leave before the vote count, while some spent the whole night at the polling stations.

After the polling stations closed, observers at some precinct electoral commissions in Yekaterinburg were asked to leave before the start of vote counting, citing an “order from above.” According to It’s My City, they were also threatened with not being paid and with problems at their university.

At other polling stations, on the contrary, observers stayed until morning: the counting only began at around 03:30 due to problems updating data in the electronic voter register.