The central election commission said on Sunday that early results based on 14.5 percent of Russia’s polling stations showed Putin had won 61.8 percent of the vote.
“Early results of 61 percent are a pleasant surprise. We were expecting 58 percent,” Putin’s campaign chief Stanislav Govorukhin said. “There will be no second round.”
Putin’s main rival Gennady Zyuganov trailed in second with 17.8 percent.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Mikhail Prokhorov came in third and fourth respectively with 8 and 7.6 percent, while Sergei Mironov was fifth with 3.7 percent, early results showed.
The results mean that Putin will return to the Kremlin where he was president for two terms from 2000-2008.
Thousands of Putin’s supporters are gathering at the Manezh Square outside the Kremlin to celebrate Putin’s victory.
This is while the opposition had claims of vote fraud and vowed to step up three months of protests against Putin.
AGB/HGH
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