Doubtful result – Putin after elections: “Show the confidence of the Russians”

“We are a united team, all Russian citizens who came to the polling stations and voted,” Putin said in a speech to his campaign team that was broadcast on state television. The election results showed Russians’ “confidence” in his leadership. At the same time, he emphasized that he wanted to do everything in his power to fulfill the tasks assigned to the leadership, as state agency Tass further reported.

Russia can now become stronger and more efficient. Putin assured that he would “consolidate” society and that no one would oppress Russia anymore. He is confident that all goals will be achieved. Referring to developments in Ukraine, Putin said that the Russian armed forces are making progress every day. Nevertheless, the army must be strengthened.

The turnout at the elections was also extremely high
The result is considered the best ever awarded to him. The turnout at the elections was also a record at more than 74 percent. It was the highest number in a Russian presidential election. However, critics pointed out that this could only be achieved through repression, coercion and fraud. The first meaningful results should be available this Monday. As a rule, the predictions correspond to the result announced at the end.

Observers described the vote, which was accompanied by protests, as undemocratic because no real opposition candidates were allowed. Furthermore, there is no freedom of assembly in Russia; the Kremlin-controlled media are lining up. Independent media are politically persecuted. Dissenters who criticize Putin’s war against Ukraine or the apparatus of power risk punishment and even imprisonment.

Competitors as extras
Not only were Putin’s three competitors all aligned with the Kremlin, but they were also seen as outgunned from the start. After the polls closed, according to the first results, less than four percent of the votes went to the communist Nikolai Kharitonov; Vladislav Davankov of the liberal New People’s Party was also below four percent; the ultranationalist Leonid Slutsky achieved about three percent.

114 million people were called to vote, including those in the occupied territories in Ukraine. Putin, now 71, has been in power since 1999, including a term as prime minister. Following a constitutional change confirmed in 2020, Putin could return to power for another six years in 2030. He has the country firmly under control, two years after the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

Putin’s course is now likely to become even more radical
Putin will probably present the result as a confirmation of his anti-Western and authoritarian course. Domestically, the screws could also be significantly tightened in the country to quell the protests of Putin’s opponents, which were visible on the three election days. Tax increases have also been announced to finance high spending on war and social policy projects.

The Kremlin chief, now elected for another six-year term, is likely to use the outcome as a clear incentive to take even more territory from Ukraine. Putin has announced that he will fully take over the previously partially occupied Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia. Odessa in the south is also threatened with a Russian occupation attempt.

High value probably due to systematic fraud
People in the occupied parts and the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, also voted in the election, which was criticized as a farce by Putin’s opponents. Ukraine and other countries reject the vote, which was organized in violation of international law, as illegal and pointless. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kiev called on the international community not to recognize the results.

Independent observers pointed to systematic fraud behind this high value for Putin. Since the first day of voting on Friday, a large number of cases have been documented in which employees of state-owned enterprises were pressured to vote and in some cases even had to take photos as proof of their completed voting form. Critics also complained that the online process in particular was easy to manipulate. Observers also documented the mass putting of pre-filled ballots into ballot boxes.

Little hope for political change
In addition to an even more brutal approach to the attack on Ukraine, experts expect that repression in Russia will increase. There is already no freedom of assembly or free reporting by the media; dissidents risk imprisonment if they criticize the war or the apparatus of power. Above all, the opposition has been eliminated because leading figures are in prison camps or have fled into exile abroad. Hopes for political change in Russia were recently dashed following the death of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny.

This lack of freedom in Russia and the synchronization of the Kremlin-controlled media are seen as the main basis for Putin to defend his power. However, political scientist Tatjana Stanovaya expects that the Kremlin will have increasing problems in retaining power. Putin’s positions are unbalanced, the aims of the war are unclear; and there are noticeable interventions in private life, Stanovaja wrote in an analysis for the Carnegie think tank. “All this will inevitably create pressure on the regime from within,” she said. “That does not mean that the regime will collapse or that there will be mass protests.” But the influence of the elites will increase and Putin’s importance will decrease.