Vladimir Putin has been re-elected as the President of Russia with a record post-Soviet landslide victory. Putin, a former KGB lieutenant colonel, has already been in power since 1999 and his re-election will make him Russia’s longest-serving leader for more than 200 years, if he completes the new six-year term. Putin won 87.8% of the vote, the highest ever result in Russia’s post-Soviet history, according to an exit poll by pollster the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM).
The United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and other nations have criticized the election, saying it was neither free nor fair due to the imprisonment of political opponents and censorship. Putin has made it clear that the result should send a message to the West that its leaders will have to reckon with an emboldened Russia, whether in war or in peace, for many more years to come. In his victory speech in Moscow, Putin said he would prioritize resolving tasks associated with Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine and strengthen the Russian military.
Putin also criticized the U.S. political and judicial systems when asked whether his re-election was democratic. He said that the whole world is laughing at the United States and called it a disaster, not a democracy. The Russian election comes just over two years since Putin triggered the deadliest European conflict since World War Two by ordering the invasion of Ukraine.