Opinion
Putin's mega win comes as no surprise
Summary
- Vladimir Putin has been re-elected Russia’s president with a record mandate—about 87% of the vote, the highest in Russia’s post-Soviet history—in an election that paves the way for his fifth term in office. His geopolitical gamble against Nato may yet work, it seems.
Vladimir Putin has been re-elected Russia’s president with a record mandate in an election that paves the way for his fifth term in office. If he completes this new six-year term, he would have been in office for almost three decades, which would take him past Josef Stalin as the country’s longest-serving leader in more than two centuries.
Putin reportedly won about 87% of the vote, the highest in Russia’s post-Soviet history. Nikolai Kharitonov, the Communist Party candidate, came second with just under 4% of the vote, while the only leader seen as posing any real opposition, Alexei Navalny, died in prison shortly before the polls. There were some signs of protest against what critics call a fixed election, but that doesn’t change anything about how the Kremlin will be run.
Almost to reinforce the point of his authority, Putin reiterated the nuclear threat he’d earlier held out against the West if it took a direct role in Russia’s war with Ukraine. With the US headed for its own big election this year, speculation has arisen of a Donald Trump victory resulting in the falling apart of Nato. With an ally in Beijing, Moscow may be preparing to wield even more power in the years ahead.
