Putin likely to stay in power until 'end of natural life': Activist

His remarks came as Russians voted in the presidential election expected to extend Putin's tenure by another six years.

Agence France-Presse reported that an anti-corruption campaigner said Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to stay in power until "the end of his natural life" or until he is overthrown.

His remarks came as Russians voted in the presidential election expected to extend Putin's tenure by another six years.

Bill Browder, whose Hermitage Capital Management firm was one of the largest investors in Russia in the late 1990s to early 2000s, said the election was "a farce from top to bottom".

But he said Putin, who is seeking another six-year term, was weak and that if he continued to repress Russians, the pressure on him would build and likely culminate in an uprising.

"He has nothing to offer people other than death, or prison. That's not a strong leader," Browder, who was expelled from Russia in 2005 after identifying a number of major corruption schemes in companies Hermitage had invested in, told the AFP news agency.

"If the people of Russia, without leadership, just on their own, decide enough is enough, then he could end up with a Ceausescu situation," he said, referring to Romania's former communist leader, Nicolae Ceausescu, who was overthrown in an anti-communist uprising, summarily judged and executed by firing squad in 1989.