Vladimir Putin will lead Russia for another six years, after securing an expected victory in the presidential election.
A Russian state exit poll gave him 73.9% of the vote, easily defeating his closest competitor. The main opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, was barred from the race.
The scale of victory - which had been widely predicted - was a marked increase in his share of the vote from 2012, when he won 64% of votes. A state exit poll put the turnout at 63.7%, down on 2012.
Mr Putin's campaign had hoped for a large turnout, to give him the strongest possible mandate.
Video recordings from polling stations showed irregularities in a number of towns and cities across Russia. Several videos showed election officials stuffing boxes with ballot papers.
Early results showed that with just 21.3% of boxes counted, Mr Putin had almost 72% of the votes.
Exit polls, published as soon as voting ended, showed that Mr Putin's closest opponent, Pavel Grudinin, was only projected to win 11.2%.
Mr Navalny was excluded from the election because of an embezzlement conviction that he said was manufactured by the Kremlin.
Not hard to win an election you've rigged with the help of the local police and the KSB.
I assume you mean FSB?
And define rigged? It is a simple fact that for better or worse Putin is exceptionally popular in Russia, he would almost certainly have won without that dubious affair with Navalny.
And define rigged? It is a simple fact that for better or worse Putin is exceptionally popular in Russia, he would almost certainly have won without that dubious affair with Navalny.
Rigged - as in, if Putin hadn't manipulated events to ensure that his opposition was lead by a ridiculous figurehead that nobody in their right minds would elect, maybe the election wouldn't be between the lesser of two evils, which is no basis for a real democracy.
If you are forced to choose between a competent evil warmonger in the pockets of the oligarchs and corporations, and a **tarded billionaire with a rabid following who spouts abhorrent views, that isn't what I'd call a healthy democracy.
Rigged - as in, if Putin hadn't manipulated events to ensure that his opposition was lead by a ridiculous figurehead that nobody in their right minds would elect, maybe the election wouldn't be between the lesser of two evils, which is no basis for a real democracy.
Maybe maybe not i'd still be incredibly surprised if navalny could have beaten Putin anyway.
If you are forced to choose between a competent evil warmonger in the pockets of the oligarchs and corporations, and a **tarded billionaire with a rabid following who spouts abhorrent views, that isn't what I'd call a healthy democracy.
Forgive me but you just described America more than Russia's democracy there...