A comprehensive conflict with NATO cannot be ruled out, and in this case the world would be only one step away from a third world war, Putin said on Sunday evening in Moscow. He sees his troops in Ukraine as having an advantage.
Putin appeared as the clear election winner in his campaign headquarters: As the state news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing the electoral authorities, following counting the votes from 99 percent of the polling stations, he got 88.33 percent and is therefore facing another six-year term. He has been steering the Russian state more and more autocratically for almost 25 years. Putin’s victory was considered a foregone conclusion from the start. All of the Kremlin leader’s best-known critics are either dead, imprisoned or in exile.
“They die there in large numbers”
“I think it’s unlikely that anyone is interested in this (Third World War, note), Putin was quoted as saying by the state agency TASS. According to Putin, numerous soldiers from NATO member states are already deployed in Ukraine. “We know that already,” he said. French and English had already been heard. “That’s not a good thing, especially for them, because they’re dying there in large numbers,” said Putin – without substantiating this claim.
The Kremlin chief sees his troops in Ukraine as having a clear advantage following conquering several towns and villages in the east of the country. “The initiative comes entirely from the Russian armed forces and in some areas our people are just mowing them down – the enemy.” The Russian president appeared open to discussions regarding France’s proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine during the Olympic Games. However, the interests of the Russian military at the front would have to be taken into account. The Olympic Games will take place in Paris from July 26th to August 11th.
Numerous Ukrainian drone attacks
The Kremlin had presented the election as an opportunity for Russians to show their support for Russian military operations in Ukraine. The three-day vote was accompanied by numerous Ukrainian drone attacks. According to the Defense Ministry, eight regions in Russia were attacked with drones on Sunday night and Sunday morning alone. Pro-Ukrainian fighters also advanced into Russian border areas.
Putin officially confirmed for the first time on Sunday that the now deceased Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny should be replaced. Putin said at the press conference in Moscow following his announced victory in the presidential election that he had already given his consent to the exchange for Russians imprisoned in the West. “As for Mr. Navalny, he is no longer alive,” Putin was quoted as saying. “This is a sad event.” “Unfortunately, what happened happened,” Putin continued regarding Navalny’s death. “But it happens, there’s nothing you can do regarding it, that’s life.”
Volkov: “Putin is a blood-sucking bug”
Navalny’s long-time confidant Leonid Volkov called Putin’s statement a month following the regime opponent’s death “cynical.” Putin, who said Navalny’s name for the first time, actually killed his opponent so that he wouldn’t have to be replaced. He described Putin as a “blood-sucking bug” who would soon burst.
Kremlin critic Navalny, who was sentenced to a long prison sentence, died in a prison camp in Siberia in mid-February. The circumstances of his death are still unclear to this day. Authorities say Putin’s harshest critic collapsed while touring the icy prison yard. Attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful. His widow Yulia Navalnaya believes that her husband was murdered in the camp.
Shortly following Navalny’s death, it was reported from his circle of confidants that he should actually have been exchanged for the so-called Tiergarten murderer, who was imprisoned in Germany. Accordingly, Vadim K., who was convicted in Germany in December 2021, should have been extradited to Russia – in return for Navalny and two unnamed Americans. It was said that a corresponding offer was made to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin at the beginning of February.
Long queues in front of polling stations in Vienna too
In several European capitals, including Vienna, long queues formed in front of the polling stations in Russian embassies on Sunday followingnoon. Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, had called on Putin opponents to flock to the polling stations at noon as a sign of protest and to vote for Putin’s opponent or to invalidate ballot papers with the inscription “Nawalny”. Navalnaya herself cast her vote at the Russian embassy in Berlin, where supporters greeted her with flowers and applause. According to her own statements, she also wrote her husband’s name on the ballot paper.
Long queues were also seen in front of polling stations around midday in several Russian cities. “I came to show that we are many, that we exist, that we are not an insignificant minority,” said 19-year-old student Artem Minasyan in front of a polling station in central Moscow. Ballots with his name on them lay atop a mountain of flowers on Navalny’s grave in a Moscow cemetery.
Open protests
Despite threats from the authorities with harsh punishments, there were also individual, open protests on the sidelines of the election. According to the civil rights organization OWD-Info, at least 80 people were arrested. Authorities reported arrests for “vandalism.” Accordingly, people poured green dye into ballot boxes at polling stations, and voters also set off Molotov cocktails or fireworks when casting their votes. Putin said the protests had “no impact” on the election. However, the authorities would “deal with” those “who destroyed their ballot papers.”
