Russian election garners congratulations and condemnation
Al Jazeera
Allies of Russian president have been quick with applause but Western leaders denounce results as illegitimate.
Russia’s allies have been swift to congratulate President Vladimir Putin for his weekend election win, but Western leaders have denounced the “illegal” vote.
Results posted on Sunday showed that Putin won a record post-Soviet landslide in Russia’s presidential election, garnering 87.8 percent of the vote.
The outcome means Putin, 71, will embark now on his fifth presidential term, with a stint as prime minister in between. Should he complete his next six-year term, he will overtake Joseph Stalin to become Russia’s longest serving leader for more than 200 years.
Dmitry Medvedev, who stood in as president in 2008-12, and is now deputy chairman of the Security Council, responded long before the final results were due to be announced, saying on Telegram: “I congratulate Vladimir Putin on his splendid victory in the election.”
He was beaten only by the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, who cheered Putin’s big win just before the voting booths opened.
