Putin Clinches 5th Term, Officials Say of Early Results From Russian Presidential Election

Russian President Vladimir Putin won a record landslide election on Sunday, Russian officials said.

Russian President and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin meets with the media at his campaign headquarters in Moscow on March 18, 2024. (Natalia Kolesnikova/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin won a record landslide election on March 17, according to early results, as Western officials have criticized the elections as being unfair and illegitimate.

It means that Mr. Putin, 71, will easily secure a new six-year term that will enable him to become one of Russia’s longest-serving leaders. He won 87.8 percent of the vote, according to an exit poll by the Public Opinion Foundation and state-run media.