Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with the media at his campaign headquarters in Moscow on March 18, 2024.
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In the highly staged elections, each of Putin's three “opponents” on the ballot – who belonged to Russia's “regular” opposition – received about 3% to 4% of the vote.
Anti-war candidates have been barred from running in the election, and most Russian opposition figures are either in self-imposed exile, imprisoned, or killed in Russia, like Navalny, who died in a Russian penal colony in the Arctic last month.
Navalny's family and supporters accused Putin of ordering Navalny's killing. The Kremlin denied any involvement in the 47-year-old man's death, and Russian authorities said it was due to “natural causes.”
In his speech to his supporters and the press at his campaign headquarters last night, Putin was relaxed and upbeat, vowing to defend and strengthen Russia. He also used the moment to make his first public comments on Navalny's death, mentioning the name of his most vocal critic for the first time publicly in years.
Aide Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, stands in front of a display of a photograph of Alexei Navalny presenting him with Bambi in the Courage category at the 75th Bambi Awards at Bavaria Film Studios. As jailed Kremlin foe Alexei Navalny shows no sign of life for several days, concerns are growing for the 47-year-old.
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When asked by NBC's Keir Simmons about the death, Putin responded by calling his death a “sad event” and claimed that he was willing to engage Navalny in a prisoner exchange with the West.
“As for Mr. Navalny. He died, that's always a sad event. Well, we had other cases where people died in prison. Hasn't something like this happened in the United States before? It happened, and not just once.” Putin told the gathered press and supporters on Sunday evening, in comments translated by NBC.
He added: “By the way, this would be unexpected, but several days before Mr. Navalny’s death, some of my colleagues and administration employees, some people, told me that there was an idea to exchange Mr. Navalny for some people imprisoned in Western countries.” Believe me or not, the person talking to me had barely finished his sentence when I said, “I agree!” claimed.
Putin said he agreed to the proposal on the condition that Navalny never returns to Russia, where he has been a figurehead of Russia's opposition movement.
“But unfortunately, it happened,” Putin said, adding: “Such things happen, and you can't do anything about it. This is life.”
Navalny's supporters said last month that there were late-stage talks between Russian and Western officials about a possible prisoner exchange involving Navalny before his sudden death, which was announced on February 16.
Last month, Navalny's allies also said that talks with Russian and Western officials about A A prisoner exchange involving Navalny was underway. Maria Pevchikh, a longtime colleague of the politician, said the talks were in their final stages just days before the Kremlin critic's sudden and unexplained death.
It has been rumored that Putin hates Navalny, and he is known to have refused even to pronounce the name of his biggest critic. Putin's comments on Sunday night are believed to be the first he has mentioned Navalny's actual name in years.
The Moscow Times newspaper reported last month that since 2017, Putin has not directly referred to the Kremlin's biggest opponents. Instead, he referred to Navalny as “that character,” “that gentleman,” “a bad alibi for a politician” and “a certain political force.”
Russian media followed Putin's example, removing Navalny from their media coverage. Last night, when they published Putin's comments, they described the opposition leader as a “blogger”. The opposition leader's death was barely mentioned in the Russian press at all.
During Putin's 24 years in power, opposition figures were harassed, intimidated and imprisoned, and a number of them died in mysterious circumstances.
The erasure of political opponents made Putin's re-election an inevitable outcome in the last election, and in 2024, the Kremlin is seen as looking for a landslide victory to legitimize Putin's foreign policies, especially the war against Ukraine.
“We have many tasks ahead of us,” he said. “But when we unite – no matter who wants to intimidate or oppress us – no one in history has ever succeeded, they have not succeeded now, and they will never succeed in the future.” While he was addressing his supporters and the media late Sunday night, according to comments translated by Reuters.
A general view of the headquarters of Russia's Central Election Commission (CEC) in Moscow, Russia on March 17, 2024. The first official results show that Putin won the Russian presidential election with 87.97% of the vote.
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Pro-Kremlin Russian media hailed Putin's record victory, with RIA Novosti news agency calling it “a record in the history of modern Russia.” By the end of Putin's next term in power, in 2030, Putin will have surpassed Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin as the longest-serving leader in modern Russian history.
The United States, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine were among the countries that denounced the recent Russian elections, describing them as “neither free nor fair.”
Thousands of Russians living abroad lined up at polling stations outside Russian embassies to vote, and many participated in “noon protests against Putin” after a call from Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny’s widow, for voters to spoil their votes or vote for any candidate except Putin. .
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