Putin set to stay after crackdown

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin says his country’s election indicates “trust” and “hope” in him after a vote in which he stifled the opposition.

Yesterday was the last day of a presidential election that offered Russians no real alternatives to Mr Putin after he ruthlessly cracked down on dissent.

Early returns after the polls closed showed Mr Putin is poised to extend his near quarter-of-a-century rule for six more years, with 87% of the vote after about 80% of precincts were counted, according to Russia’s

Central Election Commission. Mr Putin said protests during the election had “no effect” and “crimes” would be punished after the vote.

He also said he was informed of an idea to release his fiercest political foe, Alexei Navalny, from prison, days before the opposition leader’s death in an Arctic jail last month.

He said that he agreed to the idea, on condition that Mr Navalny did not return to Russia.

The election took place amid attacks within Russia by Ukrainian missiles and drones, which have killed several people.

Mr Putin faced competition from only three token rivals. Critics are either in jail or in exile. Beyond the fact that voters have virtually no choice, independent monitoring of the election was extremely limited.

Mr Navalny’s associates had urged those unhappy with Mr Putin or the war to protest by coming to the polls at noon yesterday, and lines outside polling stations both inside Russia and at its embassies around the world appeared to swell at that time.

Among those heeding the call was Yulia Navalnaya, Mr Navalny’s widow, who joined a long line at the Russian Embassy in Berlin as some in the crowd applauded and chanted her name. The OVD-Info group that monitors political arrests said 80 people were arrested in 20 cities across Russia yesterday.

DISSENT: A protester dressed as Putin in prison clothing stands outside the Russian Embassy in London.