President Vladimir Putin has won another term in office after a landslide victory in Russia’s election on Sunday, March 17.

Putin, a former KGB lieutenant colonel, won an emphatic 87.8% of the vote, setting a record with the highest ever result in Russia’s post-Soviet history.

Communist candidate Nikolai Kharitonov came a distant second with just under 4%. Vladislav Davankov came third while ultra-nationalist Leonid Slutsky finished fourth, partial results suggested.

The United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and other nations have said the vote was not free and fair, citing imprisonment and(or) censorship of Putin’s opponents.

In a victory speech in Moscow, Putin — who rose to power in 1999 — said that the election results should be a clear message to the West that Russia is emboldened, “whether in war or in peace”, for many years to come.

“We have many tasks ahead. But when we are consolidated – no matter who wants to intimidate us, suppress us – nobody has ever succeeded in history, they have not succeeded now, and they will not succeed ever in the future,” Putin said.

He insisted that Russia’s democracy was more transparent that many in the West.

Embarking on a new six-year term, 71-year-old Putin will overtake Josef Stalin as Russia’s longest-serving leader.