Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Putin extends rule in preordaine­d Russian election

U.S. national security adviser Sullivan: ‘Nothing free or fair’ about mandate

- By Emma Burrows, Dasha Litvinova and Jim Heintz

President Vladimir Putin extended his reign over Russia in a landslide election whose outcome was never in doubt, declaring Monday his determinat­ion to advance deeper into Ukraine and dangling new threats against the West.

After the harshest crackdown on dissent since Soviet times, it was clear from the earliest returns that Mr. Putin’s nearly quarter-century rule would continue with a fifth term that grants him six more years. Still, Russians heeded a call to protest Mr. Putin’s repression and his war in Ukraine by showing up at polling stations at noon on Sunday.

With all the precincts counted Monday, election officials said Mr. Putin had secured a record number of votes, underlinin­g his total control over the political system. U.S. and other Western leaders denounced the election as a sham.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said there was “nothing free or fair” about the election but seemingly resisted calls from Russia’s opposition to not recognize Mr. Putin as the winner.

Ahead of the election, Mr. Putin’s greatest political foe, Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic penal colony, antiwar candidates were barred from the ballot and independen­t voices were silenced in a Kremlin-backed media blockade. No independen­t monitoring organizati­ons were able to observe the election and analysts said online polling meant the vote was highly susceptibl­e to manipulati­on. Any public criticism of Mr. Putin or his war in Ukraine has been stifled.

Mr. Putin appeared Monday evening on Red Square in the heart of Moscow at a concert to mark the 10th year since he annexed Crimea from Ukraine. Mr. Putin’s three token challenger­s for the presidency appeared on stage beside him and publicly supported him after campaigns in which none of them criticized him.

Mr. Putin has led Russia as president or prime minister since December 1999. At the end of his fifth term, he would be the longest-serving Russian leader since Catherine the Great, who ruled during the 18th century.

Emboldened by his sweeping victory, Mr. Putin said he planned to carve out a buffer zone in Ukraine to protect Russia from crossborde­r shelling and attacks. Asked if an open clash could erupt between Russia and NATO, Mr. Putin responded curtly by saying: “Everything is possible in today’s world,” adding: “it’s clear to everyone that it will put us a step away from full-scale World War III.”

Russian officials said they recruited over 500,000 volunteers for the army last year, but many expect Mr. Putin to mobilize more forces to attempt to push deeper into Ukraine. Analysts say that in the post-election period, Russian authoritie­s could introduce unpopular measures such as raising taxes.

The Kremlin, GouldDavie­s said, is now “increasing­ly confident,” adding Russian officials have “learned just how passive the population is and how

effective their own repression is.”

Russia’s Central Election Commission said Monday that with all the precincts counted, Mr. Putin got 87% of the vote. Central Election Commission chief Ella Pamfilova said that nearly 76 million voters cast their ballots for Mr. Putin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was critical of the election and voting in regions of his country that Russia has illegally annexed, saying “everything Russia does on the occupied territory of Ukraine is a crime.”

In the U. S., the State Department’s deputy spokesman, Vedant Patel, said, “It certainly was an undemocrat­ic process.”

Germany also sharply criticized the vote. “Russia, as the chancellor has already said, is now a dictatorsh­ip and is ruled by

Vladimir Putin in an authoritar­ian manner,” said Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s spokeswoma­n, Christina Hoffmann.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratula­ted Mr. Putin, as did North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the presidents of nations that have historic and current ties to Russia, such as Azerbaijan and Belarus.

Navalny’s associates urged those unhappy with Mr. Putin or the war to go to the polls at noon on Sunday — and lines outside a number of polling stations both inside Russia and at its embassies around the world appeared to swell at that time.

Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, who spent more than five hours in the line at the Russian Embassy in Berlin, told reporters that she wrote her late husband’s name on her ballot.

Asked whether she had a message for Mr. Putin, Ms. Navalnaya replied: “Please stop asking for messages from me or from somebody for Mr. Putin. There could be no negotiatio­ns and nothing with Mr. Putin, because he’s a killer, he’s a gangster.”

Mr. Putin referenced Navalny by name for the first time in years at the news conference, declaring that he had been ready to release him in a swap for unidentifi­ed inmates in Western custody just days before the opposition leader’s death.

Supporters of Navalny streamed to his grave in Moscow, some bringing ballots with his name written on them.

The Russian leader brushed off the effectiven­ess of the apparent protest and rejected Western criticism of the vote. Instead, he tried to turn the tables on the West, charging that the four criminal cases against former President Donald Trump were a use of the judiciary for political aims.

“The whole world is laughing at it,” he said.

Some people told the AP that they were happy to vote for Mr. Putin — unsurprisi­ng in a country where state TV airs a drumbeat of praise for the Russian leader and voicing any other opinion is risky.

Dmitry Sergienko, who cast his ballot in Moscow, said, “I am happy with everything and want everything to continue as it is now.”

Voting took place over three days at polling stations across the vast country, in illegally annexed regions of Ukraine and online.

Several people were arrested, including in Moscow and St. Petersburg, after they tried to start fires or set off explosives at polling stations while a few others were detained for throwing green antiseptic or ink into ballot boxes. Many more were rounded up by police for attempting to protest.

The OVD-Info group that monitors political arrests said that about 90 people were arrested in 22 cities across Russia on Sunday.

Stanislav Andreychuk, co-chair of the Golos independen­t election watchdog, said Russians were searched when entering polling stations, there were attempts to check filled-out ballots before they were cast, and one report said police demanded a ballot box be opened to remove a ballot.

Huge lines formed around noon outside diplomatic missions in London, Berlin, Paris and other cities with large Russian communitie­s, many of whom left home after Mr. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

 ?? Alexander Zemlianich­enko/Associated Press ?? Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks Monday on a visit to his campaign headquarte­rs after the presidenti­al election in Moscow.
Alexander Zemlianich­enko/Associated Press Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks Monday on a visit to his campaign headquarte­rs after the presidenti­al election in Moscow.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States