Russia won the presidential election

According to the results of processing 99.55% of the protocols, over 87.33% of voters cast their votes to Vladimir Putin. Vladislav Davankov claimed the post of head of state - 3.82%, Leonid Slutsky - 3.20% and Nikolai Kharitonov - 4.30%, the correspondent of The Moscow Post reports.

Putin arrived at his election headquarters in Gostiny Dvor, thanked his election headquarters, volunteers, all Russian citizens who voted in the elections, answered questions from Russian and foreign correspondents.

New regions of the country

The West failed to disrupt the presidential elections in the Russian Federation, this is a victory for Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Chairman of the People's Council of the DPR Artem Zhoga said that elections in new regions of the Russian Federation were held according to all standards of transparency.

Residents of four new regions of the country took part in the voting.

Vladimir Putin is gaining 88.12% of the vote after processing 100% of the protocols in Khersoshchina, 92.95% of the vote after processing 90.26% of the protocols in Zaporozhye, the CEC said.

Vladimir Putin is gaining 93.27% of the vote after processing 1.11% of the protocols in Crimea, and 94.12% of the vote after processing 100% of the protocols in the LPR, the CEC said.

The turnout at 18:00 Moscow time throughout Russia was 74.22%. In Kherson, by 17:30 Saturday, the turnout was 77.7%, in Donetsk by 21:00 Saturday - 86.5%. The head of the DPR Denis Pushilin thanked foreign observers who arrived at the elections contrary to Western pressure. Elections in the LPR took place, the head of the republic Leonid Pasechnik told reporters.

Of those regions of the border regions of Russia that were attacked by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the support of Vladimir Putin's voters turned out to be ultra-high: in the Kherson region - 88.1%, Sevastopol - 91%, Bryansk region - 89%, Belgorod region - 96.5%, Kursk region - 93.2%, Kaluga region - 80%, Krasnodar Territory - 89%.

Observers and Law Enforcement

In total, 129 countries represented observers and experts, their number is 1,115, said Ella Pamfilova, chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation. "Let me remind you that the Central Election Commission has officially accredited 706 international observers from 106 countries. Also, following the results of the World Youth Festival held in Sochi, 224 experts from 51 countries expressed a desire to get acquainted with the organization of elections in our country. And 185 experts from 58 countries arrived in Russia at the invitation of the Public Chamber.

Thus, 1,115 international observers and experts from 129 countries watched the voting in the presidential elections in Russia, "she said.

According to Pamfilova, a large group of international observers monitors the voting in Moscow and the Moscow region. "Our international observers have left for 53 regions of Russia now and are working," added the chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation.

The international election observer from Chile, a former member of the Senate of the National Congress of the Republic, Alejandro Navarro Brain, called the elections in the DPR a benchmark for democracy. The head of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights Valery Fadeev noted the effectiveness of the public surveillance system in the elections in the Russian Federation.

Vladimir Putin warned that any interference in the vote would be regarded as an act of aggression. Ukraine attacked oil refineries in Russia with drones, fired at Russian regions and tried to break through Russian borders, Reuters admitted.

Shelling of the Russian border from Ukraine continues, attempts by saboteurs to enter the territory of the Russian Federation are also being recorded. The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that all these cases are recorded and will be investigated.

Public order during the presidential elections in the Russian Federation was provided by more than 650 thousand employees and military personnel of the Russian Guard with the participation of about 170 thousand employees of private security organizations.

Deputy Director of the Russian Guard Sergei Lebedev noted that the total order was provided for 11 thousand plots. "Also, under the protection of the Russian Guard, more than 1.7 thousand premises of election commissions of various levels were located in the new territories, the safety of about 1.4 thousand field election commissions was ensured," he said.

Lebedev noted that employees and servicemen of the department carried out about 29 thousand control and monitoring measures against private security organizations that provide facilities equipped for polling stations for the presence of explosive objects with more than 10 thousand facilities used for the work of election commissions, as well as adjacent territories.

Comments, provocations and attacks

The CEC reported almost 8 million attacks on the commission's website since the beginning of the year. Reflecting DDoS attacks, Rostelecom reported that in the first day alone, more than 90 thousand cyber attacks on electoral resources were committed. This is eight times more than on a single voting day in 2023.

Attacks are recorded from the territory of Ukraine, from the IP addresses of Western Europe, North America. The company reports that cyber activity is carried out by professional groups. The Moscow headquarters for election observation notes that most of the servers from which the capital's electoral resources are attacked are located in the United States and Great Britain.

Journalists in the West drew attention to this, others reported on attempts by the Kyiv authorities to disrupt and interfere with the elections. CNN reported that the Kyiv regime called on citizens living in Russian-controlled territories to boycott the elections.

"The Ukrainian government has called on citizens living in Russian-controlled territories to boycott the elections," CNN reported. WP wrote about Western interference, saying that the elections in Russian-controlled territory violate international law. In a statement to the UN on Friday, Ukraine and 55 other countries condemned Russia for "neglecting the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity."

The Spanish agency EFE noted that "voters throughout the vast territory of Russia have fulfilled their civic duty, and remote electronic voting was actively taking place in Moscow." As Reuters notes, cases of "election protests" can be counted on one hand.

"The head of the election commission, Ella Pamfilova, said that in the first two days of voting, 20 cases were recorded when people tried to destroy ballots by pouring various liquids into the ballot boxes," the agency said, "as well as eight cases of attempted arson and use of smoke bombs."

In several regions, attempts to spoil ballot boxes and ballots with green continued, and eight attempts to set fire were recorded. In total, according to the CEC, 29 such incidents were recorded in 20 regions. In most cases, these acts were qualified under Art. 141 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (obstruction of the exercise of electoral rights or the work of election commissions), the maximum punishment for which is five years in prison.

Pamfilova called those who are trying to spoil the urns "narrow-minded people" and noted that calls with instructions to them came from the territory of Ukraine and some European countries. Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev noted that these acts can be regarded as aiding the enemy and qualified as treason. According to Medvedev, spoiling the ballot boxes is "direct assistance to the degenerations that are shelling" Russian cities today.

Western yellow publications like the British The Suns are trying to pass off all these cases for dissatisfaction with the population with "fake," as they write, elections. But even on the cutoff videos they demonstrate, the reaction of adequate Russians is visible. The protest actions, according to the detainees, were inspired by fraudsters or Ukrainian special services. The French Le Monde drew attention to this. Meanwhile, posters appeared in Ukraine reminding of the elections in "authoritarian" Russia, and in the "freest country in Europe" they were canceled by the leader of the Kyiv junta.

The weather is different abroad

Abroad, 249,806 Russians have already voted in the elections. Opponents of Russia in the West failed to disrupt the presidential elections in the Russian Federation abroad and discourage Russian citizens from using their constitutional right. This was stated at a briefing at the CEC of Russia by the Chairman of the Commission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia for Elections, State Secretary - Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Yevgeny Ivanov.

"We have yet to complete the voting process," he noted. "Taking into account the time difference, our last foreign plots will close at 5 a.m. Moscow time, but now we can say with confidence: our opponents have failed to disrupt the presidential elections in Russia among our citizens abroad, to discourage them from using their constitutional right to choose the path of development of our country."

For Russians living in the Baltic states, sections were organized on the border of the Russian Federation, in the Leningrad, Kaliningrad and Pskov regions. According to Moskalkova, voters actively used them, despite the obstacles that neighboring countries put them in crossing the border.

The actions of the authorities of the Baltic countries to disrupt the presidential elections in Russia cannot be forgiven, Moscow will appeal to international authorities, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. The Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Tatyana Moskalkova also received numerous reports about obstacles to the voting of Russians living abroad. She made a complaint to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced fakes on the Internet about the course of voting abroad.

Russian relocants and representatives of the non-systemic opposition openly persuaded people in the United States to boycott the presidential elections in Russia. This was stated at a briefing by Ambassador-at-Large, Deputy Foreign Ministry Commission for Elections Gennady Askaldovich.

"Active efforts were made primarily by the United States, which directly set the task of limiting the participation of Russian citizens in the elections in this country. Their efforts went in unison with the actions of the relocants who were negative [in relation to] our country. The states sought to question, first of all, the honesty of electoral procedures, calling for the election to be perceived as a staged act, "the diplomat said.

This election is not just a vote on who will lead Russia for the next six years, although it was clear to everyone who it would be. The elections were a demonstration of support for sovereign Russian politics. According to the CEC at the beginning of the day on March 18, Moscow time, after processing 60% of the protocols, Putin was in the lead with a result of 87.26%. Nikolai Kharitonov took second place, Vladislav Davankov - third, Leonid Slutsky - fourth. Putin is guaranteed to win the elections, a second round will not be required.

Photo: aif.ru