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Russian election: President Vladimir Putin claims fifth term in inevitable poll landslide - BBC News Russian President Vladimir Putin claims fifth term in inevitable election landslide - BBC News
(32 minutes later)
Oleg Boldyrev Nadia Ragozhina
BBC Russian, in Narva Live reporter
Thanks for being with us as we brought you the news that Russian President Vladimir Putin, as had been expected, claimed his fifth term in office.
Across the river from this Estonian border town lies Russia and the formidable Ivangorod fortress. It's one of a handful of places where the border between the EU and Russia is still open, even if it's only for foot traffic. To read the full story, click here.
Thousands of Estonians are Russian citizens, in fact almost a quarter of them are and all they had to do to vote in the presidential elections was cross the bridge and head for the nearest polling station. This page was brought to you by Ece Goksedef, Pippa Allen-Kinross, Josh Cheetham, Malu Cursino, Sean Seddon and Paul Kirby, as well as Steve Rosenberg in Moscow and Sarah Rainsford in Kyiv, with contributions from BBC News, BBC Russian and BBC Ukrainian correspondents around the world.
People we spoke to weren't exactly forthcoming. Many said they might get into trouble if they spoke their mind because backing Putin's war in Ukraine is very unpopular here. It was edited by Jack Burgess and me.
But one local resident named Anna, told us she voted for Putin.
“He's closer to my viewpoint, I understand him. I have no doubts about him,” she said. “I think every president should care for his country and his people, I see this in Putin. I have a sister there, my husband's brother there, our relatives are buried there. To cut us apart is - painful.”
Their votes won't make any difference, as Putin's victory was a fact even before the vote started. But the feelings of Russians in this town on the edge of the European Union show the difficulties facing Baltic states which are nervously watching their giant neighbour to the East.
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