Vladimir Putin has won the presidential elections, winning his fifth mandate and with it the right to lead Russia from the Kremlin for the next six years. The head of the Kremlin won between 87% and 89% of the preferences, with the other three walk-on candidates practically annihilated. The communist Nikolai Kharitonov, in second position, stopped at 4.7%, that of Gente Nuova, Vladislav Davankov, at 3.6% and that of the Liberal Democratic Party Leonid Slutsky at 2.5%. The three days in which the consultations took place for the first time gave the desired results also in terms of participation, according to official data. Voter turnout is estimated at over 73%, compared to the 67.5% recorded in the previous presidential elections, in 2018.
Putin, in a speech on TV, mentioned Navalny's name for the first time, admitting that he had approved the exchange of the opposition leader days before he suddenly died in an Arctic prison. «A few days before Mr. Navalny died, some colleagues told me that there was an idea to exchange Mr. Navalny with some people who were in prison in Western countries. I said I agree. But unfortunately what happened, happened.”
“One day we will win”: this is the message from Navalny's widow to the Russian people after casting her vote at the Russian embassy in Berlin as part of the silent protest action of the “South against Putin”, or the call for dissent to the polls which resonated as the last will of the oppositionist Alexei Navalny, his last appeal before his death, to which many responded by silently lining up at high noon in Russia and in many parts of the world. Even in Berlin, therefore, where the image of Yulia Navalny joining the queue to vote at the Russian embassy in the German capital instead seems to scream all the strength with which her husband who died in a penal colony in the Arctic fought for years his battle against Vladimir Putin: I wrote Navalny on the ballot, Yulia told journalists, surrounded by voters in line, cheered by supporters and honored with bouquets of flowers.
Elections in Russia, Yulia Navalnaya arrives at the Russian embassy in Berlin
“It cannot be that a month before the elections, during the election campaign, Putin's main opponent, who was already in prison, was killed,” Navalnaya denounced.
This is his message to the Russian people: “Be brave, one day, very soon, we will win.” It is for Putin that he has no message, he said, however once again calling the Russian president “a murderer and a gangster” who brought his country into war.
As for military operations, the Russians are still advancing in southern Ukraine, with Kiev's troops exhausted and short of ammunition who are forced onto the defensive and now essentially dependent on drones to go on the offensive and hit the enemy. In the last 24 hours, Moscow announced the destruction of 168 attack drones launched towards Russian targets: one of these would have hit a military base in Transnistria, according to local authorities in the pro-Russian separatist region in Moldova, where many now fear it could open a new and fearsome war front.
Insights:
Russia: Zakharova in GB: “Stolen vote? Instead, look for Kate.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova used sarcasm to react to British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps who defined the elections in Russia as “stolen”; and she advised the minister to look for Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, who disappeared from the public scene since mid-January. “We didn't steal anything from them,” Zakharova denounced. “We didn't give them what we wanted. That's why they're furious,” she added. And then she wondered, “By the way, what's up with Kate Middleton? Have you found her? Look for her, Shapps.”
Putin: Yes to peace talks with Kiev but not for its rearmament
Russia welcomes peace talks with Ukraine, but only when the other side is truly determined to mend relations and is not simply trying to buy time for dwindling ammunition supplies. Russian President Vladimir Putin said so. Commenting on French President Emmanuel Macron's proposal to declare an Olympic truce in Ukraine, Putin told reporters: “We are ready to consider all proposals, but always, under any circumstances, we will be guided by national interests and the situation on the battlefield “. Then he continued: “I have said it before and I will say it again: we are in favor of peace talks, but not if they are organized simply because our adversary is running out of ammunition.” In his opinion, peace talks are possible “if they are seriously willing to build peaceful neighborly relations between the two countries in a long-term perspective and not just try to take a break of 18 or 24 months for rearmament.” (HANDLE). RP
Putin: The conflict with NATO will bring one step away from the Third World War
In the event of a large-scale conflict between Russia and NATO, “the world will be one step away from World War III.” Russian President Vladimir Putin told journalists. “I think everything is possible in the modern world, but I have already said, and it is clear to everyone, that it will lead one step away from a third world war. I think almost no one is interested in this,” Putin explained.
White House, Russian elections neither free nor fair: Putin has imprisoned his rivals
“These elections were clearly neither free nor fair as Putin imprisoned political opponents and thus prevented them from running against him.” This was stated by the spokesperson for the White House National Security Council.
Putin: yes to peace talks with Kiev, but not for its rearmament
Russia welcomes peace talks with Ukraine, but only when the other side is truly determined to mend relations and is not simply trying to buy time for dwindling ammunition supplies. Russian President Vladimir Putin said so. Commenting on French President Emmanuel Macron's proposal to declare an Olympic truce in Ukraine, Putin told reporters: “We are ready to consider all proposals, but always, under any circumstances, we will be guided by national interests and the situation on the battlefield “. Then he continued: “I have said it before and I will say it again: we are in favor of peace talks, but not if they are organized simply because our adversary is running out of ammunition.” In his opinion, peace talks are possible “if they are seriously willing to build peaceful neighborly relations between the two countries in a long-term perspective and not just try to take a break of 18 or 24 months for rearmament.”
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