At 7pm on Sunday evening, the first polling station poll from the Russian election came out. Putin had then won almost nine out of ten votes. Putin thus becomes the Russian leader who has ruled the longest since Stalin. Large parts of the outside world have both before and after the election criticized Putin and the Kremlin for orchestrating an election with an already predetermined outcome. “Everyone in the world understands that this person, like many others throughout history, has become power-mad and is doing everything to be able to rule forever,” writes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on X. “One cannot congratulate someone for an election that was marred by killing those who fight for pluralism in Russia, says French President Emmanuel Macron in an interview with Le Parisien. Praised on state television The former City Minister Carl Bildt writes on X that the election is similar to those held in the former Soviet Union, and in a comment to Reuters the White House states that the Russian election “clearly was not free or fair”. From Russia’s allies, however, the tone is different, and the congratulations have not been long in coming. According to Chinese President Xi Jinping, the election results reflect Putin’s support among the Russian people. – Under your leadership, I am sure that Russia will succeed in achieving further feats in terms of national development, Xi Jinping said in a congratulatory greeting to Putin on the state television channel CCTV. Among the congratulators after this weekend’s election is also North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-Un, reports the country’s regime-loyal news agency KCNA. Kim has previously said he supports Russia’s “holy war against the West”. “Our elder brother has triumphed” In Iran, Putin’s predestined success is being called a “powerful victory” by President Ebrahim Raisi, according to state news agency Irna. One of the few European leaders who courted Putin is the pro-Russian Bosnian Serb president Milorad Dodik. – The Serbian people welcomed President Putin’s victory with joy, as they see in him a great statesman who we can always count on and who always watches over our people, says Dodik. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also congratulated Putin, and again offered to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, the presidential office announced. A handful of governments in South and Central America also send greetings. Venezuela’s authoritarian president Nicolás Maduro sprinkles praise as he congratulates Putin. – Our elder brother has triumphed, which bodes well for the world.
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