Vladimir Putin re-elected as Russian President with exit poll claiming he won 87.97% of vote
Vladimir Putin has been re-elected as Russian President
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Vladimir Putin has won Russia's presidential election, with an exit poll claiming he won 87.97 per cent of the vote.
An exit poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) showed the landslide results for the 71-year-old on Sunday.
Polls have just closed in the westernmost region of Kaliningrad.
The results mean that Putin has been elected to another six year term as Russian President. The results have been met with backlash from the international community.
Putin, 71, has been elected to serve another six year term
REUTERSA White House National Security Council spokesperson said: "The elections are obviously not free nor fair given how Mr. Putin has imprisoned political opponents and prevented others from running against him."
A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said: "By illegally holding elections on Ukrainian territory, Russia demonstrates that it is not interested in finding a path to peace. The UK will continue to provide humanitarian, economic and military aid to Ukrainians defending their democracy."
Ukrainian President Zelensky said: "These days, the Russian dictator is simulating another election. It is clear to everyone in the world that this figure, as it has already often happened in the course of history, is simply sick for power and is doing everything to rule forever."
"There is no legitimacy in this imitation of elections and there cannot be. This person should be on trial in The Hague. That's what we have to ensure."
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Putin spoke on the Russian political system and the WestREUTERSA spokesperson for Germany's Foreign Ministry said: "The pseudo-election in Russia is neither free nor fair, the result will surprise nobody. Putin's rule is authoritarian, he relies on censorship, repression & violence.
"The 'election' in the occupied territories of Ukraine are null and void & another breach of international law."
Supporters of Putin's most prominent opponent Alexei Navalny, who died in an Arctic prison last month, had called on Russians to come out at a "Noon against Putin" protest to show their dissent against a leader they cast as a corrupt autocrat.
Navalny's widow, Yulia, appeared at the Russian embassy in Berlin to cheers and chants of "Yulia, Yulia".
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Alexei Navalny, leaving the Russian embassy in Berlin
Reuters
There was an increase in the flow of voters, especially younger people, at noon at polling stations in Moscow, St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, with queues of several hundred people and even thousands.
Some said they were protesting, though there were few outward signs to distinguish them from ordinary voters.
As noon arrived across Asia and Europe, crowds hundreds strong gathered at polling stations at Russian diplomatic missions.