Putin Wins Re-Election as Protestors Go Wild

(RepublicanDaily.org) – Russian president Vladimir Putin once again coasted to victory in the country’s presidential elections, extending his one-man hold on power yet again to 2030.

The win by the Russian dictator was largely expected, given the lack of competition and the government’s penchant to quickly do away with dissenters. Such was the case with opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died just last February 16. Navalny was at that time serving a three-decade sentence on a number of charges leveled against him by the government, authorities attributing his demise to “sudden death syndrome.”

Putin won 87.3% of the vote, according to Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC). Voter turnout was also reported at a record 77.5%. The victory puts Putin alongside Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, who also held the country in an iron grip for several years. If he completes his new term, Putin will have overtaken Stalin as the Russian leader to hold office the longest.

The 71-year-old Putin was not the lone candidate for the presidency, however. Nikolay Kharitonov, who was a far second, only secured 4.3% of votes. Putin allows candidates to run against him during elections, but only after they are vetted and curated by the Kremlin. The Russian dictator has decried the holding of elections, with one of his spokesmen calling the practice a “costly bureaucracy” rather than a democratic exercise. Still, the Russian leader said that the results of the elections, which the CEC said were Putin’s biggest win to date, were a sign of Russians’ “trust” and “hope” in his leadership.

In his victory speech, Putin told supporters that he would continue to address the issues related to Russia’s “special military operation” – the Russian government’s term to describe its invasion of Ukraine.

Supporters of the late Alexei Navalny also held protests in various polling stations in the country, with Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny’s widow, calling the Russian president a “killer” and a “gangster.” She also said that she wrote her late husband’s name on the ballot.