Chechens are voting today for a new president in a tense election, but many doubted the Moscow-backed police officer who was set to win would manage to stamp out rebellion in the turbulent region.
Underscoring the sudden violence that is part of daily life in Chechnya, a man subsequently identified as a wanted Chechen rebel blew himself up with his own bomb near a polling station in the capital, Grozny, an election official said.
The man ran off after being challenged by guards and was killed when the device he was carrying exploded, the official said. No one else was hurt.
The Kremlin-sponsored election to find a replacement for Akhmad Kadyrov, assassinated in May, took place against the backdrop of heavy fighting and two deadly plane crashes over Russia that many have laid at the door of Chechen separatists.
As voters in Chechnya went to the polls in hot, sticky weather, security was high, with 14,000 Chechen police patrolling the streets alongside Russian forces.
Career policeman Alu Alkhanov, backed by the Kremlin and whose campaign was given huge publicity, was sure to win election in the region where President Vladimir Putin sent troops to cement his image as a strong leader before his 1999 election.
In this Chechen village in the northern flatlands of the province, a huge banner across the main highway read: "Alu Alkhanov welcomes you". Everywhere there were pictures of him greeting people. There were few of his six rivals, all unknowns.
The poll has been denounced by the rebels as a Kremlin-staged farce and the separatists have vowed to kill Alkhanov if he is elected.