March 19, 2018: On Sunday, Vladimir Putin emerges victorious to become the President of the world’s largest country for another six years for the fourth time.
Putin, who made a crushing re-election victory, wins the presidential election of Russia with a overwhelming majority. With ballots from 80 percent of Russia’s precincts counted by early Monday, Putin had amassed 76 percent of the vote.
It may be mentioned that he had faced seven minor candidates and main opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, was blocked from the ballot.
The scale of victory - which had been widely predicted - appears to be a marked increase in his share of the vote from 2012, when he won 64%.
As per reports, Putin's nearest competitor, millionaire communist Pavel Grudinin, received about 12%.
Putin, a former KGB spy, has dominated Russian politics for 18 years and the 65-year-old was already the country's longest-serving leader since Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
As the embodiment of Russia’s resurgent power on the world stage, Putin commands immense loyalty among Russians. More than 30,000 crowded into Manezh Square adjacent to the Kremlin in temperatures of minus-10 degrees (15-degrees F) for a victory concert and to await his words.
