After his re-election, Vladimir Putin appeared on Red Square to celebrate 10 years since the annexation of Crimea

President Vladimir Putin on Monday celebrated the “return” of the annexed Ukrainian territories to Russia in front of a crowd in Red Square, the day after his victory in a presidential election considered illegitimate by Western powers.

Putin, 71, was re-elected with 87.28% of the vote for a fifth term, in three-day elections without an opposition candidate with real options and which also took place in areas of Ukraine occupied by forces Russian.

Russia’s election commission and the Kremlin praised Putin’s “record” victory, an achievement forged by cracking down on the opposition and presented as proof of national unity after the offensive in Ukraine.

“Hand in hand we will move forward and this will make us stronger (…) Long live Russia!”, Putin said in front of the crowd who attended a concert in Moscow’s Red Square, coinciding with the 10th anniversary of annexation of the peninsula. Crimean Ukrainian.

Putin appeared alongside the three candidates who had opposed him in the elections, after receiving them at a meeting in the Kremlin in which everyone congratulated him.

The other three candidates received 4.31%, 3.85% and 3.20% respectively, according to results that do not include foreign votes.

All of Putin’s main opponents are dead, in prison or in exile.

The elections took place a month after the death in prison of Putin’s main detractor, Alexei Navalny.

It is an “exceptional” result. and “eloquent confirmation of the Russian people’s support” for the president, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Putin, in power for almost a quarter of a century, He scored 10 points more than in 2018.

Vladimir Putin “is the foundation of our country”, estimated Viktoria, 23, an employee in a state company, on her way to the concert in Red Square.

Elena, a 64-year-old economist, said she was not surprised by the result “because every citizen who respects our country voted for Putin.”

After Sunday night’s victory, Putin said the result demonstrated a Russia that would not be “intimidated” by its adversaries.

Bullying

In his speech he congratulated himself on the “internal political consolidation”, two years after the offensive against Ukraine and Western sanctions against the country.

“It doesn’t matter who or how much they want to intimidate us, it doesn’t matter who or how much they want to crush us,” he said. “It didn’t work now and it won’t work in the future.”

All week there have been bombings and raids by Ukrainian militiamen on Russian soil to try to disturb the elections.

Putin, who could run again in 2030 and remain in power until 2036, paid tribute to the soldiers fighting in Ukraine and protecting “the historical territories of Russia”.

In his view, Russian forces have had “all the initiative” on the front since they took control of the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka in mid-February.

However, the opposition managed to express itself symbolically, responding to the appeal of Navalni’s widow. Yulia Navalnaya, who promised to carry forward her husband’s cause and invited his followers to go and vote at noon on Sunday.

Navalnaya voted at the Russian embassy in Berlin, where she lives in exile with her children.