Russia’s Central Election Commission says Putin has garnered nearly 88% of the vote after the counting of 35% of ballot boxes.
The counting began soon after balloting ended on Sunday in all regions of the country except Kaliningrad where polls closed a few hours later, according to the IRNA reporter in Moscow.
None of the three other candidates reached 5%. Nikolai Kharitonov from the Communist Party of Russia is in second place with 4.05% of votes. Vladislav Davankov and Leonid Slutsky have secured 3.8% and 3.04% of the counted votes, respectively.
For the first time, the election took place for three days, starting from Friday. Election officials have put the nationwide voter turnout at over 74%.
In a post-election news conference, Putin cast the outcome o the vote as a vindication of his decision to defy the West and launch a military offensive against Ukraine.
“No matter who or how much they want to intimidate us, no matter who or how much they want to suppress us, our will, our consciousness – no one has ever succeeded in anything like this in history,” Putin said in an address from his campaign headquarters early on Monday morning.
Putin told reporters he regarded Russia’s election as democratic, rejecting opposition criticism and the US reaction that the vote was not free and fair.
Putin was first nominated as acting president when former Russian President Boris Yeltsin resigned. He then won his first presidential election in 2000 and a second term in 2004.
Out of eight presidential election held in Russia, this will be Putin’s fifth victory, making him the longest-serving president in the post-Soviet era.
4399