ISLAMABAD: 17 March 2024 – As was expected and as the election in Russian Federation are held , Vladimir Putin wins Russian presidential election with around (what authorities claim)88 per cent of votes on Sunday, the first official results showed.
According to the first official results after the poll closed on Sunday, Vladimir Putin won Russia’s presidential election with 87.97% of the votes, news agency Reuters reported.
The voting took place against the backdrop of one of the harshest crackdown on the opposition and freedom of speech in the country. A total of three ‘token’ candidates were allowed to run against him, reported news agency The Associated Press. Notably, none of the three candidates oppose his war in Ukraine.
Russians crowded outside polling stations earlier on Sunday, to stage a protest against President Putin in a vote that offered them no real choice.
The election took place amid attacks within Russia by Ukrainian missiles and drones, which have killed several people. Polls were open from Friday through Sunday in Russia, The Associated Press reported.
Russian opposition leader and Putin’s fiercest critic, Alexei Navalny, died in a prison in the Artic Circle last month and Putin’s other critics are either in jail or in exile.
Beyond the fact that voters have virtually no choice, independent monitoring of the election is extremely limited.
Navalny’s associates urged those unhappy with Putin or the war to protest by coming to the polls on Sunday afternoon and lines outside a number of polling stations, both inside Russia and at its embassies around the world, were crowded during the afternoon.
The West takes Putin’s Next Re-Election as Real Threat to the Civilized Countries
