Callum Fraser

The FSB is neither unstaffed nor underfunded, but it has had its sights firmly set on Ukraine, said Callum Fraser, a research fellow specializing in Russian and Eurasian security at the U.K.'s Royal United Services Institute think tank. "Now, practically every facet has been pushed into the war effort," he told Newsweek. "To a certain extent, we can say that their eyes have been distracted, not completely from counterterrorism but certainly a lot more than it has been over the past 10 years or so," he said. There may have been skepticism in the Kremlin, which suspected the warnings were disinformation, Fraser added.

Callum Fraser, Russian and Eurasian security fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said the vote abroad in comparison to the domestic vote "demonstrates the scale of vote manipulation that has taken place in Russia". He said exit polls for voters outside of Russia showed election challenger Vladislav Davankov had secured the majority vote, with ballot spoiling often taking precedence over votes for Mr Putin. "The expected results showing 89% support for Putin and 80% turnout are an utter fabrication. Some sources suggest Putin secured around 55% of the domestic vote," he said.

"Opposition supporters have three options: 1. Boycott the elections entirely. 2. Vote for the lesser evil, in this case Vladimir Davankov, the supposedly liberal vote. 3. Take part in the noon against Putin demonstrations and risk arrest," Callum Fraser—a Russian and Eurasian security fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think-tank in London—told Newsweek.