EBN- Vladimir Putin has won a fifth term as president in a ‘landslide election victory’ that had an all but certain outcome.
Putin said his main tasks will be winning the war in Ukraine and strengthening the armed forces will be his main goals.
According to Russian officials, Putin won more than 87% of the vote.
The Russian president will now serve another six-year term on top of his nearly quarter-century rule.
In a post-election news conference, Putin vowed to press on with the invasion of Ukraine.
He also said Russian democracy was more legitimate than in the US, where “with mail-in voting… you can buy a vote for $10”.
Questioned about rising tensions with NATO, Putin said: “I think that everything is possible in the modern world. Everyone understands that this would be one step from a full-scale third world war. I don’t think that anyone is interested in that.”
Western leaders slammed the vote as neither fair nor free.
He faced no credible opposition candidate as the Kremlin tightly controls Russia’s political system, media and elections.
Germany called it a “pseudo-election”, while the US said the vote was “obviously not free nor fair.”
Ukraine’s President Zelensky said Putin was “drunk with power and is doing everything to rule forever.”
