- Admin
- #1
Vladimir Putin secured an unprecedented fifth term as president of Russia Monday, as the country's election commission announced the results of a vote in which he faced no serious challenges and which happened amid the strictest crackdown on opposition and free speech since Soviet times. Putin claimed his overwhelming margin was proof of Russians “trust” and “hopes” in him, while politicians across Europe rejected the vote as a sham and condemned Russia's efforts to stage elections in occupied parts of Ukraine that it claims as its own territory. "The elections took place in an ever-shrinking political space, which has resulted in an alarming increase of violations of civil and political rights, and precluded many candidates from running, including all those opposed to Russia’s illegal war of aggression."