Putin wins landslide in Russian election

STORY: President Vladimir Putin won a record post-Soviet landslide victory in Russia’s election on Sunday...

"This unity will allow us to act effectively on the frontline, in the economy, humanitarian development, achieving the goals of social development projects," he said....

although the win came with signs of dissent and criticism from the U.S. that it was neither free nor fair.

The chair of the central election commission in Moscow said Putin won a record 88% of the vote.

With a new six-year term cementing his grip on power, the former KGB officer is set to become overtake Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin as Russia’s longest-serving leader in more than 200 years.

There was never any real doubt about his victory, given Putin’s brutal crackdown on political dissent.

But there were signs of discord.

Supporters of Putin's most prominent opponent Alexei Navalny — who died in an Arctic prison last month — called on Russians to come out at a "Noon against Putin" protest to show their dissent.

Reuters journalists saw an influx of voters in at that time in some places, although it was difficult to tell them apart from ordinary voters.

Russian citizens abroad also flocked to foreign polling stations.

In Berlin, Navalny's widow, Yulia, was met with cheers.

She said she wrote her late husband’s name on her ballot.

And at Navalny’s gravesite in Moscow, dozens cast a symbolic vote for the late opposition leader.

In previous days, there had also been scattered incidents of protest, as some Russians set fire to voting booths or poured dye into ballot boxes.

Dozens of people across the country were arrested on Sunday, according to OVD-Info, a group that monitors crackdowns on dissent.

The election comes just over two years since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two.

He casts it as a "special military operation."

In Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said there was “not a single bit of legitimacy” in what he called “this simulation of an election.”

The war hung over the three-day vote with Ukraine attacking oil refineries, shelling Russian regions and seeking to pierce its borders with proxy forces.

Putin said those attacks would not go unpunished.