Early results present Putin winning some 87 % of the vote, the optimum-at any time final result in Russia’s write-up-Soviet history.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has cemented his grip on electrical power in a landslide election victory that has been commonly criticised as lacking democratic legitimacy.

In a submit-election news conference, Putin forged the end result as a vindication of his choice to defy the West and invade Ukraine.

“No subject who or how a lot they want to intimidate us, no make a difference who or how a great deal they want to suppress us, our will, our consciousness – no one particular has ever succeeded in anything like this in record,” Putin stated in an deal with from his campaign headquarters early on Monday early morning.

“It has not labored now and will not work in the long run. Hardly ever.”

Soon just after the very last polls shut on Sunday, early returns pointed to the summary all people envisioned: that Putin would increase his practically quarter-century rule for 6 additional decades.

In accordance to Russia’s Central Election Fee, he had some 87 per cent of the vote with about 60 per cent of precincts counted. The final result signifies Putin, 71, will overtake Joseph Stalin and develop into Russia’s longest-serving leader in much more than 200 several years.

Communist prospect Nikolay Kharitonov arrived second with just under 4 per cent, newcomer Vladislav Davankov third and extremely-nationalist Leonid Slutsky fourth, early results prompt.

Nationwide turnout was 74.22 percent when polls shut, election officers explained, surpassing 2018 amounts of 67.5 p.c.

Putin’s victory was hardly ever in doubt as his critics are generally in jail, in exile or lifeless, while general public criticism of his leadership has been stifled.

The Russian leader’s most prominent rival, Alexey Navalny, died in an Arctic prison last thirty day period.

For Putin, a previous KGB lieutenant colonel who initially rose to electric power in 1999, the consequence is meant to underscore to the West that its leaders will have to reckon with an emboldened Russia, whether or not in war or in peace, for a lot of far more a long time to come.

The United States explained the vote was neither totally free nor good.

“The elections are obviously not totally free nor honest presented how Mr. Putin has imprisoned political opponents and prevented many others from running versus him,” mentioned the White House’s Nationwide Protection Council spokesperson.

United Kingdom International Secretary David Cameron explained in a article on X that the vote was “not what cost-free and reasonable elections appear like”.

In Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy explained, “This election fraud has no legitimacy and can’t have any”.

The election arrived far more than two several years right after Putin’s February 2022 complete-scale invasion of Ukraine, Europe’s deadliest conflict given that Entire world War II.

On Sunday, thousands of Putin’s opponents staged a protest versus him, though there was no unbiased tally of how many of Russia’s 114 million voters took portion in the demonstrations.

Supporters of Navalny had known as on Russians to appear out to a “Noon against Putin” protest.

At his push conference, Putin referred to Navalny by title for the very first time because his demise, declaring he experienced supported a proposal to launch him in exchange for prisoners held in Western nations around the world.

“The man or woman who was speaking to me hadn’t completed his sentence and I mentioned ‘I agree’,” Putin reported.

Putin was initially nominated as performing president when former Russian President Boris Yeltsin resigned. He then won his very first presidential election in March 2000 and a next term in 2004.

Immediately after two stints as president, Putin switched back again to currently being prime minister in 2008 to circumvent a constitutional ban on holding a lot more than two consecutive conditions as head of state.

But he returned to the presidency in 2012 and won a fourth time period in 2018.