Vladimir Putin has posted a landslide victory in Russia’s election, with exit polls showing he has secured at least 73% of the vote, a marked improvement on the 63.6% he won in 2012.
Putin’s nearest rival, millionaire Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin, secured around 12% of the ballots, with nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky coming third with around 6%.
Russia’s main opposition leader Alexei Navalny was barred by the government from taking part in the election.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
State exit polls have put voter turnout at more than 60%, the BBC says, with Putin’s campaign team hoping for as large voter numbers “to give him the strongest possible mandate.”
However, there have been several complaints made of ballot stuffing and other measures designed to boost turnout figures.
Putin’s opponents claim that employers with close ties to the government had ordered staff to vote “so that a low turnout would not tarnish the win,” the Reuters news agency says.
Staff were reportedly asked to provide evidence they had voted, and journalists witnessed a number of people at different locations voting in groups, and photographing themselves at the ballot box.
The win will see Putin in power for a further six years, when by law he must step down, in 2024, at the age of 71.
CNN notes that Putin has not visibly groomed a successor, “prompting speculation he may try to find ways to extend his power beyond this term.”
However, when asked by a journalist if he would run for president again, Putin said: “What you’re saying is just silly… what, am I going to sit here for 100 years?”
-
Violent videos of Charlie Kirk’s death are renewing debate over online censorshipTalking Points Social media ‘promises unfiltered access, but without guarantees of truth and without protection from harm’
-
What led to Poland invoking NATO’s Article 4 and where could it lead?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION After a Russian drone blitz, Warsaw’s rare move to invoke the important NATO statute has potentially moved Europe closer to continent-wide warfare
-
Africa could become the next frontier for space programsThe Explainer China and the US are both working on space applications for Africa
-
Pomp but little progress at Trump's Ukraine talksFeature Trump's red carpet welcoming for Putin did little to advance a peace deal with Ukraine
-
'It's hard to discern what it actually means'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump warms to Kyiv security deal in summitSpeed Read Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Trump's support for guaranteeing his country's security 'a major step forward'
-
Ukraine, European leaders to meet Trump after Putin talksSpeed Read Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today following talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week
-
Trump-Putin: would land swap deal end Ukraine war?Today's Big Question Ukraine ready to make 'painful but acceptable' territorial concessions – but it still might not be enough for Vladimir Putin
-
Eighty years after Hiroshima: how close is nuclear conflict?Today's Big Question Eight decades on from the first atomic bomb 'we have blundered into a new age of nuclear perils'
-
What difference will the 'historic' UK-Germany treaty make?Today's Big Question Europe's two biggest economies sign first treaty since WWII, underscoring 'triangle alliance' with France amid growing Russian threat and US distance
-
Melania Trump's intervention on UkraineIn The Spotlight The first lady has been linked to the president's U-turn on sending arms to Kyiv
