Voting has started in France in the first round of an election in which at least one, and possibly two, pro-Kremlin candidates will head into a runoff vote.

It is a bitterly fought presidential election that could be crucial to the future of Europe.

Nearly 47 million voters will decide, under tight security, whether to back a pro-EU centrist newcomer, a scandal-ridden veteran conservative who wants to slash public spending, a far-left eurosceptic admirer of Fidel Castro or appoint France's...