President Vladimir Putin wins Russia's election in a landslide, solidifying his already tight hold on power and demonstrating Moscow's right to stand up to the West by sending soldiers into Ukraine.
Putin, who rose to power in 1999, stated that the outcome should send a message to the West that its leaders will have to deal with an empowered Russia, whether in war or peace, for many years to come.
The 71-year-old is set to embark on a second six-year term that will see him overtake Josef Stalin and become Russia's longest-serving leader in nearly 200 years if he completes it.
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According to an exit poll conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), Putin received 87.8% of the vote, the most ever recorded in Russia's post-Soviet history.
According to the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM), Putin has an 87% rating. The first official results confirmed the survey's accuracy.
The United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and other countries have stated that the vote was not free or fair since political opponents were imprisoned and censored.
According to preliminary results, Communist candidate Nikolai Kharitonov came in second place with little under 4%, followed by newcomer Vladislav Davankov and ultra-nationalist Leonid Slutsky.
Putin told supporters in a victory address in Moscow that he would prioritize completing duties related to what he dubbed Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine and would reinforce the Russian military.
"We have many tasks ahead. But when we are consolidated - no matter who wants to intimidate us, suppress us - nobody has ever succeeded in history, they have not succeeded now, and they will not succeed ever in the future," said Putin.
Inspired by opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in an Arctic prison last month, thousands of opponents rallied at polling sites around Russia and abroad at noon to protest Putin.
Putin told reporters that he saw Russia's election as democratic and that the Navalny-inspired protest against him had no bearing on the outcome.
"...Is it democratic to use administrative resources to attack one of the candidates for the presidency of the United States, using the judiciary among other things?" he said, referring to four criminal charges against Republican nominee Donald Trump.
The Russian election comes just over two years after Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, resulting in the worst European conflict since World War II.
