Putin won the elections with record results. According to the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, the Russian dictator received 87% of the votes.
China, Iran and North Korea have already congratulated Putin on his victory. And the head of Ukrainian intelligence, Kirill Budanov, said that the world has never seen so many spoiled ballots.
About this and more Facts ICTV spoke exclusively with political scientist and chairman of the board of the Center for Applied Political Research Penta — Vladimir Fesenko.
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Elections in Russia: results
Elections in the Russian Federation: what will happen after
Putin's threats
How to contain Putin
Elections in Russia: results
According to a political scientist, in the 2024 Russian presidential elections, Putin was supposed to win with a result of more than 80%, however, the election commissions decided to exceed the plan and drew the Kremlin dictator 87% — which became a kind of record.
– I don’t know whether this was the Kremlin’s initiative, or whether they tried on the ground, but there was clearly an intention to exceed the plan. That is why the number of opponents was limited. The fewer participants, the higher Putin’s results. He used Stalin’s recipe: what matters is not who votes how, but who counts and how they count. “We had to show an absolute advantage,” he said.
According to Fesenko — all that remained was the coronation of Putin as the new Russian Tsar.
“Next is only the coronation, who knows, maybe he’s dreaming about it,” added the political scientist.
Photo: Getty Images
Elections in the Russian Federation: what will happen after
Chairman of the Board of the Center for Applied Political Research Penta notes that what’s next is only a continuation of the bloody war. In his opinion, for Vladimir Putin this is not only the realization of his own imperial ambitions, it is also a way to maintain power.
– War is like a drug for Putin. He needs to continue the war and repression in Russia in order to maintain power. If he does not do this, the mode will begin to lose power. And for Putin there is another threat — aging. Putin is a man. People are getting old, he is already over 70 years old.
– Who remembers Soviet times, there were periods that were called stagnation. When Soviet leaders grew old, they died. This is the early 70's — late 80s. And with them the Soviet regime began to die. And even replacing him with the young Gorbachev did not save the situation. The regime died anyway. Such a threat will be inevitable before the Putin regime,” the expert emphasized.
Mikhail Gorbachev shakes hands with Leonid Kravchuk in Boryspil 1991. Photo: UNIAN
Putin's threats
During his speech, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin threatened the West with a third world war if countries continued to provide weapons to Ukraine.
– In this way he is trying to restrain the West from helping Ukraine. Moreover, Putin demands peace on his own terms. And considering that the elections were spoiled for him by battles on the canonical territory of the Russian Federation in the Belgorod and Kursk regions, he begins to put forward conditions — the so-called cordon sanitaire. What does this mean? He wants part of Ukraine, in his opinion, to be demilitarized. Essentially this is a demand that Ukraine not defend a significant part of its territory.
Fesenko noted that this is an unacceptable condition for Ukraine and we will never agree to it.
How to contain Putin
According to the expert, there is only one way out of the situation — strengthening assistance to Ukraine. Only this can restrain Putin from spreading the war to other countries.
– If Putin is not stopped, he will move on. The closest victims are the Baltic countries and Moldova. Putin not only wants to defeat Ukraine, he wants to force the West to play on his terms. “He wants to regain control over the post-Soviet countries,” the expert said.
However, such a scenario is only possible in the event of a victory over Ukraine. Therefore, now all partner countries must expand the production of weapons and ammunition in order to increase assistance to Ukraine.
Previously, Facts ICTV wrote about the world’s reaction to the results of the elections in Russia. More about this — read our material.
