First forecasts out

Russian election: Putin underpins his autocracy

The first exit polls are in and Russian state television has already declared Putin the winner of the election.

(Bild: AFP)

According to an initial forecast, Vladimir Putin has clearly cemented his autocracy in what was actually more of a pro forma election in Russia. The Kremlin leader is expected to win with 87.8 percent, according to post-election polls. Voter turnout was reported at more than 70% on Sunday evening, the highest figure ever in a Russian presidential election. This should give the result additional legitimacy.

Russian state television has already declared the 71-year-old the winner on the basis of voter surveys conducted by several institutes close to the Kremlin. The first meaningful results should be available this Monday. As a rule, the forecasts are in line with the result announced at the end. It would be a record for Putin, who received 76.7 percent of the vote in 2018.

Election neither free nor fair
If Putin were to prevail in the vote, which was considered neither free nor fair, it would come as no surprise. Official opponents were seen as puppets of Moscow, other Kremlin critics are in prison.

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114 million people were called to vote, including those in the occupied territories in Ukraine. Putin, now 71, has been in power since 1999, including one term as prime minister. Following a constitutional amendment confirmed in 2020, Putin could run again for a further six years in 2030. He has a firm grip on the country a good two years after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

Putin is likely to present such a result as confirmation of his anti-Western and authoritarian course. Observers expect that with this support, which critics say is partly due to repression and coercion, he will significantly step up his aggressive war against Ukraine over the next six years in office, and not just in terms of foreign policy.

Russians fear further mobilization
Many Russians also fear a new mobilization of hundreds of thousands of reservists. Domestically, too, the thumbscrews in the country could be tightened considerably more in order to stifle the protests of Putin's opponents that were visible on the three election days. Tax increases have also been announced to finance the high spending on the war and social policy projects.

Silent forms of resistance
Thousands of people demonstrated against Putin in several Russian cities on Sunday, gathering in front of polling stations around midday. The opposition had called for this silent form of resistance, the "Noon against Putin" campaign, so that opponents of the Kremlin and the war could safely express their displeasure at the election, which critics consider undemocratic. Nevertheless, the civil rights portal OVD-Info reported at least 74 arrests - most of them in the city of Kazan.

Polling station set on fire
In the city of Perm, a 64-year-old woman set off fireworks in a polling station and seriously injured herself. She caused the explosion herself in the building's toilet and tore off her hand in the process, reported the Telegram channel "Baza" on Sunday evening. According to the media, the regional authorities confirmed an emergency at the polling station and announced that the woman had been taken to hospital.