After the presidential elections in Russia, which were criticized as a farce and where lies and fraud were on the agenda, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin pompously celebrated his victory and the tenth anniversary of the annexation of Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula from Crimea .
“I congratulate you on the holiday. Long live Russia!” Putin shouted on Monday evening in the capital’s Red Square before thousands of people cheered and waved Russian flags. State television broadcast the performance, which was preceded by concerts by artists loyal to the Kremlin.
The 71-year-old Putin, who has been in power for about a quarter of a century, also brought on stage his three opponents Nikolai Charitonov, Vladislav Davankov and Leonid Slutsky, who were deemed to have no chance in the House of Representatives elections. started and they also realized that this pointed to the Kremlin’s line.
In view of the illegal referendum that sealed Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014, communist Kharitonov praised Putin for “bringing Crimea home.” Liberal Davankov assured that he would never forget “the feeling of pride for my country and my president.” Putin, who has been waging a full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine for more than two years, was also celebrated for partially capturing and annexing the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia.
Erdogan congratulates Putin
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on his re-election on Monday. In a telephone conversation, Erdogan expressed his belief that “the positive development of relations between Turkey and Russia will continue,” the Turkish presidency said. At the same time, Turkey is willing to “take on a mediating role to return to the negotiating table with Ukraine.”
It is not the first time that Erdogan has offered to mediate in the war between Russia and Ukraine. He strives for good relations with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Coercion and fraud at the ballot box
In the presidential elections, which ran from Friday to Sunday and were labeled by observers as undemocratic, Putin achieved a record result of more than 87 percent and thus secured a fifth term in office. Genuine opposition members were not allowed to stand as candidates. Independent election observers also complained that the elections were characterized by propaganda, coercion and fraud.
Source: Krone
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