Putin Extends Rule In Preordained Russian Election

Nearly 76 million cast their ballots for Putin, his highest vote tally ever; friends and allies quick to congratulate him but Western leaders dismiss his victory

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PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin sealed his control over Russia for six more years on Monday with a highly orchestrated landslide in an election that followed the harshest crackdown on the opposition and free speech since Soviet times.

While the result was never in doubt, Russians attempted to defy the inevitable outcome, heeding a call to protest Putin's repression at home and his war in Ukraine by showing up at polling stations at noon on Sunday. But, it was clear Putin would extend his nearly quarter-century rule with a fifth term.

With nearly all the precincts counted on Monday, election officials said Putin had secured a record number of votes an unsurprising development underlining the Russian leader's total control of the country's political system.