President
Vladimir
Putin
won
a
record
post-Soviet
landslide
in
Russia’s
election
on
Sunday,
cementing
his
already
tight
grip
on
power
in
a
victory
he
said
showed
Moscow
had
been
right
to
stand
up
to
the
West
and
send
its
troops
into
Ukraine.
Putin,
a
former
KGB
lieutenant
colonel
who
first
rose
to
power
in
1999,
made
it
clear
that
the
result
should
send
a
message
to
the
West
that
its
leaders
will
have
to
reckon
with
an
emboldened
Russia,
whether
in
war
or
in
peace,
for
many
more
years
to
come.
The
outcome
means
Putin,
71,
is
set
to
embark
on
a
new
six-year
term
that
will
see
him
overtake
Josef
Stalin
and
become
Russia’s
longest-serving
leader
for
more
than
200
years
if
he
completes
it.
Putin
won
87.8%
of
the
vote,
the
highest
ever
result
in
Russia’s
post-Soviet
history,
according
to
an
exit
poll
by
pollster
the
Public
Opinion
Foundation
(FOM).
The
Russian
Public
Opinion
Research
Centre
(VCIOM)
put
Putin
on
87%.
First
official
results
indicated
the
polls
were
accurate.
The
United
States,
Germany,
the
United
Kingdom
and
other
nations
have
said
the
vote
was
neither
free
nor
fair
due
to
the
imprisonment
of
political
opponents
and
censorship.
Communist
candidate
Nikolai
Kharitonov
finished
second
with
just
under
4%,
newcomer
Vladislav
Davankov
third,
and
ultra-nationalist
Leonid
Slutsky
fourth,
partial
results
suggested.
Putin
told
supporters
in
a
victory
speech
in
Moscow
that
he
would
prioritise
resolving
tasks
associated
with
what
he
called
Russia’s
“special
military
operation”
in
Ukraine
and
would
strengthen
the
Russian
military.
“We
have
many
tasks
ahead.
But
when
we
are
consolidated
–
no
matter
who
wants
to
intimidate
us,
suppress
us
–
nobody
has
ever
succeeded
in
history,
they
have
not
succeeded
now,
and
they
will
not
succeed
ever
in
the
future,”
said
Putin.
Supporters
chanted
“Putin,
Putin,
Putin”
when
he
appeared
on
stage
and
“Russia,
Russia,
Russia”
after
he
had
delivered
his
acceptance
speech.
Inspired
by
opposition
leader
Alexei
Navalny,
who
died
in
an
Arctic
prison
last
month,
thousands
of
opponents
protested
at
noon
against
Putin
at
polling
stations
inside
Russia
and
abroad.
Putin
told
reporters
he
regarded
Russia’s
election
as
democratic
and
said
the
Navalny-inspired
protest
against
him
had
had
no
effect
on
the
election’s
outcome.
In
his
first
comments
on
his
death,
he
also
said
that
Navalny’s
passing
had
been
a
“sad
event”
and
confirmed
that
he
had
been
ready
to
do
a
prisoner
swap
involving
the
opposition
politician.
When
asked
by
a
NBC,
a
U.S.
TV
network,
whether
his
re-election
was
democratic,
Putin
criticised
the
U.S.
political
and
judicial
systems.
“The
whole
world
is
laughing
at
what
is
happening
(in
the
United
States),”
he
said.
“This
is
just
a
disaster,
not
a
democracy.”
“…Is
it
democratic
to
use
administrative
resources
to
attack
one
of
the
candidates
for
the
presidency
of
the
United
States,
using
the
judiciary
among
other
things?”
he
asked,
making
an
apparent
reference
to
four
criminal
cases
against
Republican
candidate
Donald
Trump.
The
Russian
election
comes
just
over
two
years
since
Putin
triggered
the
deadliest
European
conflict
since
World
War
Two
by
ordering
the
invasion
of
Ukraine.
War
has
hung
over
the
three-day
election:
Ukraine
has
repeatedly
attacked
oil
refineries
in
Russia,
shelled
Russian
regions
and
sought
to
pierce
Russian
borders
with
proxy
forces
–
a
move
Putin
said
would
not
be
left
unpunished.
Putin
said
Russia
might
need
to
create
a
buffer
zone
inside
Ukraine
to
prevent
such
attacks
in
future.
While
Putin’s
re-election
was
not
in
doubt
given
his
control
over
Russia
and
the
absence
of
any
real
challengers,
the
former
KGB
spy
had
wanted
to
show
he
had
the
overwhelming
support
of
Russians.
Nationwide
turnout
was
74.22%
at
1800
GMT
when
polls
closed,
election
officials
said,
surpassing
2018
levels
of
67.5%.
There
was
no
independent
tally
of
how
many
of
Russia’s
114
million
voters
took
part
in
the
opposition
demonstrations,
amid
tight
security
involving
tens
of
thousands
of
police
and
security
officials.
Reuters
journalists
saw
an
increase
in
the
flow
of
voters,
especially
younger
people,
at
noon
at
polling
stations
in
Moscow,
St
Petersburg
and
Yekaterinburg,
with
queues
of
several
hundred
people
and
even
thousands.
Some
said
they
were
protesting,
though
there
were
few
outward
signs
to
distinguish
them
from
ordinary
voters.
At
least
74
people
were
arrested
on
Sunday
across
Russia,
according
to
OVD-Info,
a
group
that
monitors
crackdowns
on
dissent.
Over
the
previous
two
days,
there
were
scattered
incidents
of
protest
as
some
Russians
set
fire
to
voting
booths
or
poured
green
dye
into
ballot
boxes.
Opponents
posted
some
pictures
of
ballots
spoiled
with
slogans
insulting
Putin.
But
Navalny’s
death
has
left
the
opposition
deprived
of
its
most
formidable
leader,
and
other
major
opposition
figures
are
abroad,
in
jail
or
dead.
The
West
casts
Putin
as
an
autocrat
and
a
killer.
Ukrainian
President
Volodymyr
Zelenskiy
said
on
Sunday
that
Putin
wanted
to
rule
forever
and
that
the
vote
had
been
illegitimate.
Putin
portrays
the
war
as
part
of
a
centuries-old
battle
with
a
declining
West
that
he
says
humiliated
Russia
after
the
Cold
War
by
encroaching
on
Moscow’s
sphere
of
influence.
Russia’s
election
comes
at
what
Western
spy
chiefs
say
is
a
crossroads
for
the
Ukraine
war
and
the
wider
West.
Support
for
Ukraine
is
tangled
in
U.S.
domestic
politics
ahead
of
the
November
presidential
election.
Though
Kyiv
recaptured
territory
after
the
invasion
in
2022,
Russian
forces
have
made
gains
after
a
failed
Ukrainian
counter-offensive
last
year.
