Laughing Putin
© AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool

Vladimir Putin has been accused of 'undue influence' in Russian elections after they were won by his preferred candidate, himself.


The extent of Russian influence in Russia's election is already under scrutiny, with experts suggesting that a large proportion of the votes may have been cast by Russians.

"It's a concern that Russia keeps cropping up in elections; Brexit, Trump, now even in Russia itself. Everywhere you look Putin is involved," said election analyst Simon Williams.

"We're looking into the possibility that people close to the Kremlin, such as the population of Moscow, may have aided Putin in his attempts to swing the elections in his favour - largely by voting for him.

"We've even seen video footage of him walking into a polling station, bold as brass, and voting for himself. How he can get away with that in this day and age is a global disgrace."

Not everyone is sure that Putin was involved in the outcome, with veteran Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn calling for 'more evidence' before he's sure Putin was involved in his own victory.

"I think we need to wait until things are clearer," he said over footage of a smiling Vladimir Putin walking through the door of the Kremlin and sitting back down on his big gold-and-polonium throne.

However, Putin is unrepentant, insisting that he could have got a far higher proportion of the votes.

"I could easily have got millions more votes," he told us. "All I needed to do was ask Diane Abbott to count them."