THE NEWS FREEDOM
NEW DELHI, MARCH 18
Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended warm congratulations to President Vladimir Putin on his successful re-election as the President of the Russian Federation. Modi expressed eagerness to fortify the enduring special and privileged strategic partnership between India and Russia in the forthcoming years.
Vladimir Putin celebrated a landslide victory in Russia’s latest election, a triumph widely anticipated and reinforced by officials who declared on Monday that he had secured his fifth term with an overwhelming majority. In an electoral landscape devoid of credible challengers and marked by the suppression of opposition voices, Putin’s rule has been extended for another six years, extending his tenure to nearly a quarter-century, as reported by CBS News.
According to CBS News’ senior foreign correspondent Elizabeth Palmer, this outcome positions Putin to surpass all predecessors in modern Russian history, potentially becoming the longest-serving leader in 200 years. Despite the predictable nature of the election, pockets of dissent emerged, notably following the recent death of Alexey Navalny, a prominent critic and opposition leader, in a remote Russian prison.
Russia’s Central Election Commission announced Monday that Putin secured 87.29% of the vote, with nearly all precincts reporting. Commission chief Ella Pamfilova revealed that this translated to an unprecedented support of nearly 76 million voters, marking a historic high for Putin’s electoral mandate.
President Vladimir V. Putin has solidified his grip on power in Russia until 2030, as reported by The New York Times. This extension of his rule was facilitated through a meticulously orchestrated presidential election lacking genuine competition, aimed at projecting widespread public endorsement of his domestic authority and his military intervention in Ukraine.
Despite the absence of democratic norms, some Russians attempted to voice their dissent by organizing long queues at polling stations at a prearranged time — noon — in a symbolic act of protest. Concurrently, Ukraine sought to assert its stance by launching a series of explosive drones targeting Moscow and other locations, as detailed in The New York Times report.