Authorities say he earned more than three-quarters of the vote.
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Russia has been embroiled in a diplomatic crisis with the United Kingdom in the run-up to the vote over the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy, his daughter and a police officer on British soil earlier this month.
He declared victory in front of thousands of people gathered in below-freezing temperatures at Moscow’s Manezhnaya Square near the Kremlin, where he called for unity in the country.
LUCIAN KIM, BYLINE: Yes, that’s right.
What happened in the election? I mean, what is the feel?
Evangelicals have meanwhile been speaking out against a law that Putin signed in 2016 that prohibits people from sharing their faith in any place that is not a government-sanctioned house of worship. And in fact, the election was timed to coincide with that anniversary. “Shall I sit here until I turn 100? No!” But, Lucian, does Putin have an argument to make? One expert tells the paper: “Russia has depleted its means of development, meaning that now Russian Federation will only rely on force and expansion”.
The UK government has blamed Russian Federation for the poisoning in Salisbury of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia – an allegation Russian Federation rejects.
KIM: Well, that’s exactly it.
Putin’s bellicose language reached a crescendo before the election in a state-of-the-nation speech when he unveiled new nuclear weapons, saying they could hit nearly any point in the world and evade a USA -built missile shield. In Crimea, where residents voted in Russia’s election for the first time since its military takeover of the peninsula in 2014, fear mongering and conspiracy theories dominated the airwaves.
However, the country’s centrifugal opposition leader and known anti-graft activist Alexei Navalny was barred from running against Putin, due to his conviction in a fraud case.
“In this case, we are talking about an avalanche of false claims against Russian Federation, which is hard to explain, with unclear motives and without any grounds, from the United Kingdom”, Peskov said.
During polling day, independent election monitoring group Golos reported hundreds of irregularities. The Ukrainian government announced that only Russian diplomatic officials would be allowed to cast ballots in Sunday’s vote. The problem is that the opposition doesn’t – isn’t really presenting a very convincing or consolidated alternative.
Mr Putin has ruled Russian Federation as either president or prime minister since 1999 but his share of the vote in the last election 2012 was smaller, at 64%.
The accusations ultimately bolstered Putin among a populace that sees him as their defender against a hostile outside world and the embodiment of Russia’s resurgent power on the world stage. So what happens now?
In his next six years, the president is likely to assert Russia’s power overseas even more strongly.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s action to scrap term limits could offer a tempting example for the Russian leader. He even mentioned him in his victory press conference.
Asked if he could initiate changes to the constitution, he answered with a characteristic reticence, saying he has no such plans “yet”.
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Media also attributed Putin’s convincing victory to the mass campaign by election officials to rally voters. Across the intellectual right in France there is a strong argument that Russian Federation historically deserves greater respect, and if shown that respect, will respond.
