Moscow: Dmitry Medvedev has been elected to succeed Vladimir Putin as president of Russia, according to near complete results announced Monday by the central election commission.

Commission chief Vladimir Churov said the results based on a count of 99.4 % of the vote showed that Medevedev had won 70.23%.

“He is the obvious leader,” Churov said.

Medvedev was trailed by Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov with 17.76%, followed by populist nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky with 9.37% and relative unknown Andrei Bogdanov with 1.29%, Churov said.

The fraction of ballots that remained to be counted were mainly from votes cast abroad, in Asia and the Americas, Churov said.

Despite widespread reports of election violations, Churov said the vote had proceeded without incident.

“We have not noted any fraud or alteration of vote results,” he said.

Turnout among the country’s 108.95 million voters was 69.61%, he added.

Turnout was particularly high in the North Caucasus region, Churov said, with 91.2%in Chechnya, 92.03% in neighbouring Ingushetia and 90% in Dagestan.