President Vladimir Putin has won the presidential election in Russia with a whopping 87.97% of the vote, according to early official results of the vote.
This means that Putin will spend another six-year term in office.
Sky News reports that one of the first to react was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who accused President Putin of “simulating another election”.
“It is clear to everyone in the world that this figure, as it has already often happened in the course of history, is simply sick for power and is doing everything to rule forever,” he said in a statement.
“There is no legitimacy in this imitation of elections, and there cannot be. This person should be on trial in The Hague. That’s what we have to ensure.”
Shortly after, a spokesperson for the White House said the victory is an indicator that “elections are obviously not free nor fair” given how the leader has “imprisoned political opponents and prevented others from running against him”.
A statement released by the UK Foreign Office on X (formerly Twitter), said: “By illegally holding elections on Ukrainian territory, Russia demonstrates that it is not interested in finding a path to peace.”
It said the UK will “continue to provide humanitarian, economic and military aid to Ukrainians defending their democracy”.
