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Russian election latest: Putin claims landslide win as West condemns 'pseudo-election' - BBC News Russian election latest: Putin claims landslide win as West condemns 'pseudo-election' - BBC News
(32 minutes later)
President Putin has mocked democracy in the United States following his inevitable landslide victory in Russia's presidential election, which is tightly controlled by the Kremlin. We've just been hearing comments from the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who has been speaking about Russia's election and says it was not free and fair.
When Russian election officials said results gave him more than 87% of the vote, Putin said Russia's democracy was more transparent than many in the West. It was instead based on "repression and intimidation", Borrell says.
Taking questions from reporters, he hailed Russia's presidential campaign as far more advanced than the US, citing Russia's use of online voting, which officials said brought in eight million voters. A joint statement on the vote is expected to be issued by the 27 EU nations later today.
Putin had earlier been filmed performing a single keystroke to exercise his democratic right.
"It's transparent and absolutely objective," he suggested, "not like in the US with mail-in voting... you can buy a vote for $10".
Independent watchdog Golos was barred from observing the vote but reports of irregularities have emerged, as well as pressure on public sector employees to vote either in polling stations or online.
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