Vladimir Putin is heading into his sixth term as Russia's leader, following a landslide victory in the country's virtually unprecedented elections taking place today. According to the results of the polls and the first results communicated by the Russian official media, Putin obtained just under 88% of the votes cast. Turnout for in-person elections (i.e., excluding absentee voting) would still have been 73.3% according to state news outlets. There is no independent body in the country capable of verifying this data. What seems certain, however, is that at 12 p.m. local time (in the country's different time zones), the lines of voters at the polls swelled considerably, in the silent protest action inspired by the dissident Alexei Navalny and remembered after his death by his widow Julia. With his sixth term in office, Putin could soon become Russia's longest-ruling leader in more than 200 years, beating communist dictator Joseph Stalin's record.
The reactions
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev spoke of the “resounding victory” of his political mentor, while Russian state television highlighted the “colossal support” enjoyed by the head of the Kremlin. The reaction of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is diametrically opposite: Putin is a man “sick of power, who wants to rule forever”, commented the Kiev leader. “It is clear to everyone that this character, as has happened so many times in history, is simply drunk with power and is doing everything he can to rule forever and there is no harm which he will not commit to prolong his personal power,” he said. » declared the Ukrainian president, defining the Russian vote as “without
no legitimacy. »
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