Vladimir Putin Claims Landslide Russian Election Victory
The Facts
Russia's Vladimir Putin clinched another six-year term in office after winning a record post-Soviet landslide in the presidential election on Sunday.
According to the Russian Central Election Commission, Putin had secured nearly 87.3% of the vote after all ballots had been counted on Monday. Turnout was 77.5% of the electorate, the highest in the country's modern history.
The Spin
Pro-Russia narrative
Putin's historic win in the Russian presidential election shows that the whole nation stands united with its leader, sending a strong message to the West — which has ferociously fought with Moscow — that the Russian president will always have his people's full support, whether in war or peace. The display of Russian unity is the best sign that all the speculation about illegal elections is actually ungrounded.
Anti-Russia narrative
This pseudo-election has neither been free and fair nor democratic. With the Kremlin tightly controlling Russia's media and political system, there was never a level playing field. Under an authoritarian ruler — who removed his real challengers from the political landscape through censorship, repression, and murder — Russians had no credible alternative than to vote in an illegal election and forcibly hand over the country's reins to a dictator.
