Landslide win gives Putin six more years

Significance

Putin won 87% of the vote on 74% turnout, surpassing the 68% seen in 2018. Communist candidate Nikolai Kharitonov came second with just under 4%. Scattered opposition protests and strikes by Ukrainian forces did little to disrupt the vote.

Impacts

• Russia is unlikely to return to a more competitive form of ‘electoral authoritarianism’ while Putin is in power.
• A younger generation of politicians will move into senior leadership positions over the next six years.
• The participation of millions of voters from occupied Ukrainian territories will be used to justify their further integration with Russia.