Vladimir Putin won six more years as Russian president in an ‘election’ widely regarded as a sham Sunday.
The nationalist, anti-west, anti-LGBT leader was re-elected with more than 76 percent of the vote in a process that saw the main opposition leader banned from standing.
Addressing a rally in Moscow, Mr Putin said voters had “recognised the achievements of the last few years”.
Putin, 65, has been in power either as prime minister or president of Russia since 1999.
Experts have speculated that he will capitalise on the huge ‘election’ victory – which is up from 64 percent in 2012 – by consolidating his power as president.
Others have suggested that he is ‘trapped’ in power, as he could face serious repercussions from ‘enemies’ if he is no longer president.
Speaking to reporters after the results were announced, he laughed off a question about running again in another six years.
“What you are saying is a bit funny. Do you think that I will stay here until I’m 100 years old?”
He then added, laughing: “No!”
Mr Putin’s campaign team said it was an “incredible victory”.
“The percentage that we have just seen speaks for itself. It’s a mandate which Putin needs for future decisions, and he has a lot of them to make,” a spokesman told Russia’s Interfax.
Putin’s critics slammed the election as unfair, citing the Kremlin’s tight control over the media.
There were also reports of serious restrictions on some election monitors, with those in Russia to oversee a fair vote being deported.
There were also reports of live feeds at polling stations catching officials stuffing ballot boxes with papers, all of which Russia’s most senior election official denied.
Putin cast his ballot at a polling station in Moscow on Sunday morning, declaring that “the will of the people, the will of each Russian citizen, will determine the path the country will take”.
Russia’s Central Election Commission says the turnout in the presidential election has exceeded 50 percent.
The incumbent president urged Russians to “use their right to choose the future for the great Russia that we all love”.
He warned that failure to cast a ballot would mean that “this decisive choice will be made without your opinion taken into account”.
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