Russia’s election on Sunday saw President Vladimir Putin win in a historic post-Soviet landslide, solidifying his hold on power despite the fact that thousands of opponents demonstrated at polling places at midday and the US declared the vote to be neither free nor fair.
The outcome is meant to emphasize to the West that its leaders will have to deal with a stronger Russia, whether in war or peace, for many more years to come, according to Putin, a former KGB lieutenant colonel who first came to power in 1999.
Because of the early results, Vladimir Putin, 71, will likely win a second, six-year term, which will allow him to surpass Josef Stalin and become Russia’s longest-serving leader in history—more than 200 years.
An exit survey conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) revealed that Putin received 87.8% of the vote, the greatest percentage in Russia’s post-Soviet history.
Putin stood at 87% according to the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM).
The first official results of the polls showed that ultra-nationalist Leonid Slutsky came in fourth, newcomer Vladislav Davankov came in third, and Communist contender Nikolai Kharitonov came in second with little under 4%.
“Considering how Mr. Putin has jailed political opponents and barred others from running against him, the elections are clearly neither free nor fair,” the National Security Council of the White House stated.
The election takes place just over two years after Putin’s order to invade Ukraine set off the bloodiest European conflict since World War Two.
“Special military operation” is how he characterizes it.
According to media reports, polling places in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Yekaterinburg saw a surge of voters at noon, with lines of several hundred or perhaps thousands of people, primarily young people.
Despite the fact that there were few obvious indicators that set them apart from regular voters, som_e claimed to be protesting.
