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Putin Wins 5th Term in Russian Election03/18 06:10

   

   (AP) -- President Vladimir Putin sealed his control over Russia for six more 
years on Monday with a predetermined landslide in an election that followed the 
harshest crackdown on the opposition andfree speech since Soviet times.

   While the result was never in doubt, Russians attempted to defy the 
inevitable outcome, heeding a call to protest Putin's repression at home and 
his war in Ukraine by showing up at polling stations at noon on Sunday. But 
from the earliest returns, it was clear Putin would extend his nearly 
quarter-century rule with a fifth term.

   With nearly all the precincts counted Monday, election officials said Putin 
had secured a record number of votes -- an unsurprising development underlining 
the Russian leader's total control of the country's political system.

   Putin has led Russia as president or prime minister since December 1999, a 
tenure marked by international military aggression and an increasing 
intolerance for dissent.

   As early results came in, the Russian leader hailed them as an indication of 
"trust" and "hope" in him -- while critics saw them as another reflection of 
the highly orchestrated nature of the election.

   "Of course, we have lots of tasks ahead. But I want to make it clear for 
everyone: When we were consolidated, no one has ever managed to frighten us, to 
suppress our will and our self-conscience. They failed in the past and they 
will fail in the future," Putin said at a meeting with his campaign staff after 
polls closed.

   Any public criticism of Putin or his war in Ukraine has been stifled. 
Independent media have been crippled. His fiercest political foe, Alexei 
Navalny, died in an Arctic prison last month, and other critics are either in 
jail or in exile.

   Beyond the fact that voters had virtually no choice, independent monitoring 
of the election was extremely limited.

   Russia's Central Election Commission said Monday that with nearly 100% of 
precincts counted, Putin got 87% of the vote. Central Election Commission chief 
Ella Pamfilova said that nearly 76 million voters cast their ballots for Putin, 
his highest vote tally ever.

   Western leaders have denounced the election as a sham, while President 
Volodymyr Zelenskyy particularly criticized voting in Ukrainian areas that 
Russia has illegally annexed, saying "everything Russia does on the occupied 
territory of Ukraine is a crime."

   France's Foreign Ministry said "the conditions for a free, pluralist and 
democratic election were not met," while paying tribute to "the courage of many 
Russian citizens who peacefully show their opposition."

   Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un quickly 
congratulated Putin, along with some Central and South American leaders and 
presidents of nations that have historic and close current ties to Russia, such 
as Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

   In the tightly controlled environment, Navalny's associates urged those 
unhappy with Putin or the war to go to the polls at noon on Sunday -- and lines 
outside a number of polling stations both inside Russia and at its embassies 
around the world appeared to swell at that time.

   Among those heeding call was Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny's widow, who spent 
more than five hours in the line at the Russian Embassy in Berlin. She told 
reporters that she wrote her late husband's name on her ballot.

   Asked whether she had a message for Putin, Navalnaya replied: "Please stop 
asking for messages from me or from somebody for Mr. Putin. There could be no 
negotiations and nothing with Mr. Putin, because he's a killer, he's a 
gangster."

   A voter in Moscow, who identified himself only as Vadim, said he hoped for 
change, but added that "unfortunately, it's unlikely." Like others, he didn't 
give his full name because of security concerns.

   Meanwhile, supporters of Navalny streamed to his grave in Moscow, some 
bringing ballots with his name written on them.

   Putin brushed off the effectiveness of the apparent protest and rejected 
Western criticism of the vote as he tried to turn the tables on the West, 
charging that the four criminal cases against U.S. Republican candidate Donald 
Trump were a use of the judiciary for political aims and describing denigrating 
democracy in the U.S. as a "catastrophe."

   "The whole world is laughing at it," he said.

   Putin referenced Navalny by name for the first time in public at the news 
conference, declaring that he was ready to release him in a swap for 
unidentified inmates in Western custody just days before the opposition 
leader's death.

   Some people told the AP that they were happy to vote for Putin -- 
unsurprising in a country where state TV airs a drumbeat of praise for the 
Russian leader and voicing any other opinion is risky.

   Dmitry Sergienko, who cast his ballot in Moscow, said, "I am happy with 
everything and want everything to continue as it is now."

   Voting took place over three days at polling stations across the vast 
country, in illegally annexed regions of Ukraine and online.

   Several people were arrested, including in Moscow and St. Petersburg, after 
they tried to start fires or set off explosives at polling stations while 
others were detained for throwing green antiseptic or ink into ballot boxes.

   Stanislav Andreychuk, co-chair of the Golos independent election watchdog, 
said Russians were searched when entering polling stations, there were attempts 
to check filled-out ballots before they were cast, and one report said police 
demanded a ballot box be opened to remove a ballot.

   That left little room for people to express themselves. Still, huge lines 
formed around noon outside diplomatic missions in London, Berlin, Paris and 
other cities with large Russian communities, many of whom left home after 
Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

   "If we have some option to protest I think it's important to utilize any 
opportunity," said 23-year-old Tatiana, who was voting in the Estonian capital 
of Tallinn and said she came to take part in the protest.

 
 
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