Vladimir Putin strolled to victory in the Russian presidential election and used the opportunity to lash out at democracy in the United States.
Official results announced by election officials indicate that Putin gained over 87% of the vote, leading him to claim that the results are more transparent than in Western countries, per BBC News.
In a symbolic protest, supporters of the late Putin critic Alexei Navalny organized demonstrations under the banner of "Noon against Putin."
Despite this initiative causing long queues of voters, it had no significant impact on the election outcome - which will see Putin continue to rule Russia until at least 2030.
Most Western critics believe that the election result was a foregone conclusion before the first vote had even been cast.
Reports from monitoring groups indicated that at least 80 Russians were arrested during the election process. However, compared to previous instances, there were no widespread attacks reported on polling stations.
Western nations swiftly condemned the election, with Germany labeling it a "pseudo-election" under an authoritarian regime reliant on censorship and repression.
UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron criticized the holding of elections in Ukrainian territory, while Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the event as a simulation.
Despite criticism, Putin lauded Russia's election process as more advanced than that of the US, citing the use of online voting which reportedly drew in eight million voters.
"It's transparent and absolutely objective," Putin said. "Not like in the US with mail-in voting... you can buy a vote for $10."
He is now set to extend his rule until at least 2030, marking him as the longest-serving Kremlin leader since Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
The election took place across three days to give the public as much of an opportunity to vote as possible, with those in Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine given longer.
This has been met with skepticism as some witnesses claim that armed guards were taking ballot boxes from home to home and forcing people to vote.
The election saw long queues of protest voters outside Russian embassies worldwide, with many expressing their disillusionment with the political landscape.
Activists emphasized the importance of solidarity despite doubts about the impact on the Kremlin's results.
Critics argue that the absence of credible alternatives in the political arena is a deliberate strategy by the Kremlin, which has systematically removed potential challengers through imprisonment, exile, or elimination.
Many will have voted for Putin simply because there was no credible opposition.
