One resident complained of pro-Russian collaborators with ballot boxes going from house to house looking for voters accompanied by armed soldiers.
Vladimir Putin will certainly win another term of office, but a high turnout would help the Kremlin’s efforts to legitimise his continued rule.
It would also be used to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
I imagine that it is the same reason that a robber chooses to become a mugger rather than a burgler, when the latter is far less risky: they enjoy the confrontation.
Also it is the modern form of “lick my boot”, reinforcing in the mind of the recipient their own powerlessness.