Thousands celebrate Putin victory

Russians gathered in central Moscow on late Sunday to celebrate the 59-year-old’s return to the Kremlin as president for the third time.

Putin won more than 63 percent of the Sunday vote, well ahead of his closest rival, according to the nearly complete official returns.

Addressing his supporters in Manezhnaya Square, Putin said that he won in open and fair battle.

“I once asked you: are we going to make it and we made it. We won today supported by the majority, I promise to work hard and fair and we will succeed. So I urge all of you to unite for the sake of our nation and Motherland,” Putin said.

Putin also promised to have the Central Election Commission investigate all allegations of violation in the voting. The opposition has raised fraud allegations and called for a protest rally.

The tally so far shows that Putin has received 64.39 percent of the votes, while his main rival, the Communist Party chief, Gennady Zyuganov, has garnered 17.13 percent.

Mikhail Prokhorov from pro-business political party, Right Cause, and Vladimir Zhirinovsky of Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) have respectively received 6.79 and 6.7 percent.

Putin served as president for two consecutive terms from 2000 to 2008. The victory gives him a six-year term in the Kremlin.

PG/HGH

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