Putin has won Russia’s presidential election with claims that the results were manipulated and rigged. Source: Wikimedia Commons: File:Vladimir Putin (2022-10-21) 03.jpg – Wikimedia Commons
President Vladimir Putin has won Russia’s presidential election, triggering a large number of protests at polling stations, claiming the results were rigged.
According to the first official results showed on Sunday from Russia’s Central Election Commission, Putin had 87 per cent of the votes in the first ballot count, extending his 24-year rule for another six years.
Several protesters claimed that the elections took place in a tightly controlled environment, where criticism of the war or Putin was not allowed, and opposition candidates were either jailed or exiled from running.
Communist candidate Nikolai Kharitonov came in second with just under 4% of the votes, newcomer Vladislav Davankov came in third, and ultra-nationalist Leonid Slutsky came fourth.
Alexei Navalny, Putin’s strongest opposition leader, died an unexplainable death in prison last month, sparking “noon” protests at polling stations in major cities, following in Navalny’s footsteps.
Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, also called for thousands to join her at protests against Putin at embassies around the world.
“It can’t be that a month before a presidential campaign, a month before an election, Putin’s main opponent [Navalny], who was already in jail, was killed,” she commented.
The protests were peaceful and involved people turning up to cast their vote against Putin, demonstrating that opposition to his election exists, despite the results not reflecting it.
It was reported that more than 50 protestors were arrested in 14 cities across Russia on Sunday.
“I believe that the Russian people today have a chance to show their real attitude to what is happening by voting not for Putin, but for some other candidates or in some other way, which is exactly what I did,” said one protestor.
The White House released a comment stating, “the elections are obviously not free nor fair given how Mr. Putin has imprisoned political opponents and prevented others from running against him”.
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said “this election fraud has no legitimacy and cannot have any”.
The election takes place amidst Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine.
Experts fear if Putin — the longest serving leader since Josef Stalin — continues to rule, and succeeds in conquering Ukraine, the war could spread across Europe.
