The Russian leader Vladimir Putin has thanked his constituents for his clear victory in presidential election. "You are our team. I am a member of your team and all of you who have chosen today are part of our joint team, "Putin said on Sunday evening at an appearance near Kremlin in Moscow. After counting almost 50 percent of votes, Putin got around 75 percent of vote. He thus steers towards best election result of his career. He values this as recognition for his previous policy: "I see confidence and hope in it," Putin said. "We expect success." After about three minutes, he agreed to call Russia and left stage.

The Communist presidential candidate Pavel Grudinin reached second place with a good 13 percent. Behind this lies nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky with 6.3 percent. Thus, Liberal TV journalist Xenia Sobchak reached 1.4 percent. The remaining four candidates each received less than one percent of votes.

Putin's probably worst adversary, Alexei Navalny, was allowed to not for election. He had previously been convicted in a process motivated by many Alspolitisch and Riefdaraufhin to boycott vote. Followers of Nawalnys, who monitored electoral process, reported tampering. Thus, voters in buses were driven VonWahllokal to polling premises so that y could have ihreStimmeed several times. "We would call ' shuttle bus choice ', ' said a fellow opponent of opposition.

Putin's fourth term lasts until 2024

The 65-year-old Putin will remain Russia's president for six more years. Although final result is not expected until Monday, re is little change in trend. In evening re will be a victory party near Kremlin in Moscow.

In largest country on Earth with eleven time zones, about 109 million people were called to elect ir head of state. They were able to vote for seven or candidates alongside incumbent Putin. Putin's victory was considered safe. Participation figures were not available at first.

The election was overshadowed by reports of multiple stimmabgaben and forced voting. The Russian Electoral observation group Golos announced that re have been violations of electoral system in dozens of places. These included ballot boxes that were placed out of sight of observation cameras, as well as changes to last-minute voter registration, which is likely to result in greater participation.

A wall in Moscow shows an extrapolation for eight candidates of Russian presidential election. © Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin

The mayor of fourth largest Russian city of Ekaterinburg, Yevgeny Roisman, told news agency AP, staff of administration and state employees would have received command from higher authority to ensure that participation at more than 60 percent "The struggle for participation is unprecedented."

The AfD congratulates Putin

One of Putin's first wishers in Germany was AfD. The party presidents Jörg Meun and Alexander Gaula congratulated Putin on his re-election: "We wish him much success and political discretion for his next term of office." The AfD will continue to promote dialogue with Russia on equal terms and reduction of sanctions.

The former KGB agent Putin has been leading Russia for 18 years. Because constitution allowed only two terms of office in a row, he had not made his choice in 2008. Until 2012, he was head of government, while his confidant Dmitry Medvedev led Kremlin business. In 2012, Putin exchanged office with Medvedev in a controversial caste and returned to president with 63.6 percent of vote.

Date Of Update: 19 March 2018, 12:02