Putin vows to make Russia ‘stronger’
President Vladimir Putin on Monday hailed the “return” to Russia of annexed Ukrainian territories, after winning an election slammed as illegitimate by Western powers.
The ex-spy won over 87% of the vote in a three-day ballot that included voting in parts of Ukraine held by Russian forces.
Moscow has presented the weekend presidential election as proof that Russians have rallied around Putin more than two years into the Ukraine offensive.
Putin’s victory is widely expected to further tighten his grip on Russia, where dissent is no longer tolerated under fastaccelerating repression.
In power since the last day of 1999, he is now on course to become the longest-serving Russian leader in more than two centuries.
“Hand in hand, we will move forwards and this will make us stronger... Long live Russia!” Putin told a crowd at a Red Square pop concert to mark 10 years since Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.
Putin boasted of a new rail link in areas of Ukraine captured by Russian forces, saying those regions had “declared their desire to return to their native family”.
He appeared at the concert alongside the three candidates who ran against him after hosting them at a Kremlin meeting in which they all congratulated him. All of the 71-year-old’s major opponents are dead, in prison or in exile, and voting took place a month after Putin’s main challenger Alexei Navalny died in prison.
Zelensky aid plea
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had already slammed Putin for seeking to “rule forever”, urged the US Congress on Monday to quickly approve a $60 billion military aid package.
“It is critically important for us that the Congress soon completes all the necessary procedures and makes a final decision... that will strengthen the Ukrainian economy and our armed forces,” Zelensky said in a statement after meeting with US Senator Lindsey Graham.
His comments came as Ukraine has ramped up its attacks on Russian territory in recent days, with Ukrainian shelling killing four people near Russia’s border city of Belgorod on Monday, bringing the total number of dead in the region since last week to 15.
Russia replaces naval chief
Russia has replaced the head of its navy, state media confirmed on Tuesday, after reports the previous naval chief had been sacked for repeatedly losing Black Sea warships to Ukrainian attacks.
The former commander of Russia’s Northern Fleet Alexander Moiseyev has been appointed acting commanderin-chief, replacing outgoing Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, who had been in post since May 2019, the RIA news agency reported. “Moiseyev was introduced as the Russian Navy’s acting commander-in-chief at a ceremony,” the agency said.
The Kremlin last week refused to comment on Moiseyev’s appointment, which marks the biggest shakeup in Russia’s military top brass in months.
Ukrainian forces claim to have destroyed more than two dozen Russian ships since the conflict began in February 2022, including a military patrol boat earlier this month. The sinkings have been an embarrassment for Moscow, which has been forced to move boats from its historic Sevastopol naval base in Crimea to the port of Novorossiysk, further east.