Putin coasts to landslide win in Russian election
MOSCOW — Vladimir Putin headed to an overwhelming win in Russia’s presidential election Sunday, adding six more years in the Kremlin for the man who has led the world’s largest country for all of the 21st century.
The vote was tainted by widespread reports of ballot-box stuffing and forced voting, but the complaints will probably do little to undermine Putin. His popularity remains high despite his suppression of dissent and reproach from the West over Russia’s increasingly aggressive stance in world affairs and alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
Putin’s main challenge in the election was to obtain a huge margin of victory to claim an indisputable mandate.