Vladimir Putin has secured 87 percent of the vote in Russia’s presidential election, according to an exit poll reported by Russian state media.
An exit poll from the All-Russian Centre for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) issued the results at about 6pm GMT on Sunday (March 17).
Russia has ended three days of voting which began on Friday in a presidential election that was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule by six more years after he stifled dissent.
At least half a dozen cases of vandalism at polling stations were reported, including a firebombing and several people pouring dyed liquid into ballot boxes.
The election took place against the backdrop of a ruthless crackdown that has crippled independent media and prominent rights groups and given Putin full control of the political system.
It also came as Moscow’s war in Ukraine entered its third year. Russia has the advantage on the battlefield, where it is making small, if slow, gains.
A Russian missile strike on the port city of Odesa killed at least 14 people on Friday, local officials said.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has made Moscow look vulnerable behind the front line: Long-range drone attacks have struck deep inside Russia, while high-tech drones have put its Black Sea fleet on the defensive.
Russian regions bordering Ukraine have reported several attempts by Ukrainian fighters to take towns this week. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that “it is beyond any doubt that they are related one way or another to attempts to cast a shadow on the elections.”
Voters cast their ballots Friday through Sunday at polling stations across the vast country’s 11 time zones, in illegally annexed regions of Ukraine and online.
