Russian Presidential Elections 2024: President Vladimir Putin won in a record post-Soviet landslide, winning 87.8% of the vote in Russia’s election on Sunday. He made it clear that the result should send a message to the West that its leaders will have to reckon with an emboldened Russia, whether in war or peace, for many more years to come.
Putin is set to start a new six-year term that, if fulfilled, would overtake Josef Stalin as the longest-serving leader of Russia in the history of the country.
In a “victory speech” at his Moscow presidential campaign headquarters, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed gratitude to the populace following the Central Election Commission’s (CEC) preliminary results, which indicated he had won a fifth term in office.
Speaking on Sunday night in front of his supporters, Putin claimed that Russia will grow stronger and more capable as a result of his election victory.
In addition to expressing gratitude to the voters who showed up at the polling places, Putin said, “We are especially grateful to our warriors on the line of contact,” which refers to the front lines of the conflict in Ukraine.
“No matter who and how they would try to intimidate and suppress us, our will, our consciousness… Nobody in our history has ever succeeded, won’t succeed now or in the future. Never,” he added.
Putin stressed that the “only source of power in the country is the Russian people,” adding that the vote of every citizen counts when it comes to charting the nation’s course.
“I will do my best to solve the tasks set before the country and achieve the goals we all consider to be of the highest priority,” he said.
According to CEC data, voter turnout for this year’s election was a record 74%, higher than the percentage for the 2018 election (67.47%).
According to the CEC, more than 80 per cent of the votes have been counted as of 1 a.m. Moscow time and Putin is leading the race with an estimated 87.15 per cent.
Source:IANS