Putin set to win Russian presidential election, amid UK tensions

President Vladimir Putin is set to cruise to another comfortable election win as Russians head to the polls on Sunday, but voting has been overshadowed by possible apathy, unfair practices and Moscow's tensions with the UK.

Challenger Alexei Navalny has been barred from the polls and Putin has been projected to have 70 percent of the vote in opinion polls, ten times that of his closest challenger.

Although Putin is almost certain to win a fourth term in the Kremlin, he is looking to achieve this with a high voter turnout to bolster the legitimacy of the election.

Many have already dismissed the vote as a sham with the Kremlin attempting to mobilise Russians by offering food discount vouchers at polling stations.

Russians have reportedly been told to take photos of themselves at the polls to prove to their bosses that they voted.

Putin has been marred by a sluggish economy that has been hit hard by economic sanctions and low energy prices.

The election also comes amid a major diplomatic crisis with the UK, after a former Russian spy and his daughter were found poisoned with a nerve agent. 

UK intelligence believe that Moscow is almost certainly responsible for the attempted assassination, leading them to take action against Russia by expelling diplomats from London.

Putin appears to relish the diplomatic crisis with the Russian government retaliating against the UK and government ministers directing stormy rhetoric at London.

He has been bolstered by several provocative foreign policy acts, such as the annexation of Crimea after an invasion of parts of Ukraine by Russian forces.