Vladimir Putin wins so-called presidential elections
Moscow, Russia (Svidomi) — In Russia, Vladimir Putin has been declared the winner of the so-called presidential election held on March 15-17, 2024, the Central Election Commission of Russia reports.
The current president allegedly received 87.29% of the vote. Nikolai Kharitnov of the Communist Party came in second with 4.31%, Vladislav Davankov of the New People Party came in third with 3.79%, and Leonid Slutsky of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia came in fourth with 3.19% of the vote.
"Congratulations to all Russia's enemies on Vladimir Putin's brilliant victory in the election of the President of the Russian Federation! And a thank you to friends for the support," said former Russian President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy head of the Security Council.
Stanislav Andreychuk, recognised as a foreign agent in Russia and co-chair of the Russian Golos movement, said that the analysis of the turnout for the Russian presidential election "points to fraud".
The Golos election map includes at the very least 1,733 reports of violations. These include violations during the vote count, illegal campaigning and bribery, voting control, protocol violations, etc.
At the same time, on the last day of the Russian presidential election, March 17, the Russian opposition held an action Noon against Putin (Polden protiv Putina). In protest, people went to the polling stations simultaneously to vote allegedly against Putin at 12:00.
The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes that the elections were not conducted in a transparent and democratic manner and emphasises the illegal electoral process that took place in the occupied Ukrainian territories.
"Russian citizens have not had access to full and independent information, nor have they been able to vote for candidates who oppose the current regime. Once again, the Russian authorities did not allow the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observer mission to monitor the voting process," the Czech ministry says in a statement.
The process was also called a pseudo-election in other countries, including Poland, Lithuania, the United Kingdom, the United States and others.
"The pseudo-election in #Russia is neither free nor fair, the result will surprise no one," the German Foreign Ministry's statement reads.
White House spokesman to the UN Security Council John Kirby said that "Putin has imprisoned political opponents and prevented other candidates from running against him".
Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs responded to Putin's announced "victory" by posting a tweet with the words "Elections. What elections?".
At the same time, Putin was congratulated on his 'victory's" by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, among others.
"I send my congratulations to the brotherly people of Russia and President Vladimir Putin for their extraordinary victory in the presidential election of the Russian Federation," Maduro's website reads.
In his evening address on March 17, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that "the Russian dictator (Putin - ed.) is imitating the next elections".
"It is clear to everyone in the world that this figure, as has happened so often in history, is simply sick of power and is doing everything to rule for life. There is no evil that he will not commit to prolong his personal power... I thank every state, every leader, and all international organisations that call a spade a spade. Everything that Russia does in the occupied territory of Ukraine is a crime," the Ukrainian president added.
