Putin seen winning landslide 88% of Russian election vote
Supporters of Putin's most prominent opponent Alexei Navalny, who died in prison last month, called on Russians to come out at a"Noon against Putin" protest.
Putin won 87.8% of the vote, the highest ever result in Russia's post-Soviet history, an exit poll by pollster FOM showed.First official results indicated the polls were accurate. Reuters journalists saw an increase in the flow of voters, especially younger people, at noon at polling stations in Moscow, St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, with queues of several hundred people and even thousands.
"Our victory is that we, the people, defeated fear, we defeated solitude - many people saw they were not alone." But Navalny's death has left the opposition deprived of its most formidable leader, and other major opposition figures are abroad, in jail or dead. "For a US administration that hoped Putin's Ukraine adventure would be wrapped up by now with a decisive setback to Moscow's interests, the election is a reminder that Putin expects that there will be many more rounds in the geopolitical boxing ring.