Summoned to go to the polls with the aim of legitimizing Putin’s permanence in the Kremlin until 2030, he has obtained 87.85% of the votes in his favor and, therefore, has claimed the full right to a fifth mandate that, if nothing exceptional happens, will be extended for six more years.
Since 1999 he served as prime minister (for the second time) between 2008 and 2012 when Dmitry Medvedev served as president. Otherwise, Putin has been the direct protagonist of Russian politics for almost two and a half decades.
Thus, with the electoral result in hand, he addressed the nation appealing to the way in which the past repeats itself, making clear allusion to the Second World War and the political language of the time to emphasize the union that supposedly exists around the defense of the Russian Federation. It was striking that Putin surrounded himself with young people, perhaps with the propaganda objective of making people believe that the new generations are with him.
With 112 million voters, no international oversight with a democratic tradition, 11 time zones, electronic voting, the most emblematic opposition leaders murdered, in exile or in prison and a “special military operation” underway. Mother Russia will continue to be led and governed, as the Russians like, with an iron fist.
The three election days passed in the midst of tense normality. Following a series of incidents against the electoral process, some people were accused of crimes against the State whose sentences ranged from 20 to 25 years.
In several European capitals there were demonstrations against the election, as happened in Berlin, where Yulia Navalnaya exercised her right to vote at the Russian embassy by writing on her card: Navalny. As expected, the elections were affected both in the areas of dispute with Ukraine and in Belgorod due to the Ukrainian attack. Putin’s response has been forceful, after a month and a half without being attacked, in the last few hours, kyiv received a volley of more than 30 missiles.
Obviously, Zelensky reacted to the elections by calling them a sham and pointing out Putin as a dictator addicted to power. Furthermore, Zelensky continues to fight on the battlefield as well as on the diplomatic front so that the West becomes more committed to the defense of Ukraine. Nobody ignores that if Ukraine falls, Putin will advance and the regional balance will be totally shattered.
So much so that, once the electoral results were known, which were completely predictable, Josep Borrell (High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy) said “that the elections had not been free and fair. “No OSCE observation, very restricted environment (…) these elections have been based on repression and intimidation and have been held in occupied territory, violating Ukrainian sovereignty.”