Putin extends rule after taking a landslide victory in Russian polls
With nearly 100% of precincts counted, the Russian President got 87% of the vote, says CEC; Putin says the results are an indication of the people’s ‘trust’ and ‘hope’ in him; Germany slams the election process; China’s Xi congratulates Putin
President Vladimir Putin sealed his control over Russia for six more years on Monday with a landslide in an election that followed the harshest crackdown on the Opposition and free speech since Soviet times.
With nearly all the precincts counted on Monday, election officials said Mr. Putin had secured a record number of votes.
Mr. Putin has led Russia as President or Prime Minister since December 1999, a tenure marked by international military aggression and an increasing intolerance for dissent. At the end of his fifth term,
Mr. Putin would be the longestserving Russian leader since Catherine the Great, who ruled during the 18th century.
As early results came in,
Mr. Putin hailed them as an indication of “trust” and “hope” in him.
“Of course, we have lots of tasks ahead. But I want to make it clear for everyone: when we were consolidated, no one has ever managed to frighten us, to suppress our will and our selfconscience. They failed in the past and they will fail in the future,” he said at a meeting with his campaign staff after polls closed.
Russia’s Central Election Commission said on Monday that with nearly 100% of precincts counted, Mr. Putin got 87% of the vote. Central Election Commission chief Ella Pamfilova said nearly 76 million voters cast their ballots for Mr. Putin, his highest vote tally ever.
Western leaders denounced the election as a sham, while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy particularly criticised voting in Ukrainian areas that Russia has illegally annexed, saying “everything Russia does on the occupied territory of Ukraine is a crime”.
Germany sharply criticised the vote with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s spokeswoman, Christina Hoffmann, saying that “in our opinion, it was not a democratic election.”
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jongun quickly congratulated Mr. Putin, along with some Central and South American leaders and presidents of nations that have historic and close current ties to Russia.