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Russian election: West condemns 'pseudo-election' as Putin claims landslide win - BBC News Russian election: West condemns 'pseudo-election' as Putin claims landslide win - BBC News
(32 minutes later)
As we've been reporting, many Western authorities have criticised Russia's election as being neither free nor fair.
Here's a quick summary of some of the reactions we've been hearing: If you are just joining us this morning, here's a quick recap of the key developments from yesterday's final day of voting in the Russian elections.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Putin a "dictator" who is "drunk from power". "There is no evil he will not commit to prolong his personal power," Zelensky said Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed a landslide victory in Russia's presidential election, with election officials giving him more than 87% of the vote
In the United States, a White House spokesperson said the election was "obviously not free However, Western countries have condemned the election as a sham, with no credible opposition candidate allowed
nor fair given how Putin has imprisoned political opponents The election took place over three days of voting which ended on Sunday. People across the country's eleven different time zones cast their ballot, with Russian officials saying turnout was greater than 74% in the election
and prevented others from running against him" There was, however, some symbolic opposition with the "Noon against Putin" initiative backed by Yulia Navalnaya - the widow of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron criticised the vote on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying "this is not what free and fair elections look like" Long queues formed at noon in Russian cities including Moscow and St Petersburg, and in even greater numbers outside many embassies abroad, in a sign of protest
The German foreign ministry called the vote in Russia a "pseudo-election" and said "Putin's rule is authoritarian, he relies on censorship, repression & violence" Voting also took place in the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine: Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea
Meanwhile, the Polish foreign ministry said that it's "impossible to make a free, democratic choice" in the Russian election Speaking after his victory, Putin said Russia would become stronger: "No matter how hard they tried to scare us, suppress our will, our conscience", before adding "they failed now and they will fail in the future"
But elsewhere, North Korean state media reported that Kim Jong Unsent Putin a message congratulating him on his victory
And a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson congratulated Putin, adding: "We firmly believe that under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Putin, China-Russia relations will continue to move forward"
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