© Sergey Guneev/SputnikThe Russian presidential candidate and incumbent President, Vladimir Putin, speaks to the media at the campaign headquarters, in Moscow, Russia, March 18, 2024.
Vladimir Putin has delivered a victory speech at his campaign headquarters in Moscow, after preliminary results of the country's presidential vote from Russia's Central Election Commission showed him securing a fifth term in office with over 87% of the vote.
Speaking in front of his supporters on Sunday night, Putin stressed that the "only source of power in the country is the Russian people," adding that the vote of every citizen counts when its comes to charting the nation's course.
The Russian leader noted that while the country is about to face numerous challenges, its people will be up to the task if they remain united.
"No matter who and how they would try to intimidate and suppress us, our will, our consciousness... Nobody in our history has ever succeeded, won't succeed now or in the future. Never."
Putin went on to thank Russian citizens for the trust they had placed in him. "I will do my best to solve the tasks set before the country and achieve the goals we all consider to be of the highest priority."
This year's election has been marked by a record-high voter turnout. According to CEC data, it topped 74%, exceeding the figure for the 2018 election (67.47%). Presidential elections were also organized for the first time in Russia's new regions - the Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR) People's Republics, as well as in Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, which voted overwhelmingly to join Russia in the fall of 2022.
Putin specifically praised the Russian military for risking their lives on the frontlines to protect the country's "so-called new, but in fact historic territories."
According to the CEC, more than 80% of the votes have been counted as of 1am Moscow time and Putin is leading the race with an estimated 87.15%.
Comment: Turnout is now being reported as hitting 77%.
Hand-counting ballots, as they should be in a proper election:
Overseas turnout also hit a new record. Western media reported that Russians living abroad were queuing up to 'vote out Putin', LOL!
All week long the CIA and friends organized raids into Russia with a paramilitary group made up of hundreds of Ukrainians and Russian traitors, apparently in some stupid, violent attempt to 'sour the election'. Epic fail!