For the Kremlin, a resounding first-round win will give the incumbent a fresh stamp of legitimacy and sends a clear message: Putin's war on Ukraine has the full backing of his people.
,Russian President Vladimir Putin has secured a fifth term in office through a dubious national plebiscite.
In an address to the Russian people on the eve of the election, Putin urged voters to cast ballots as a show of national unity. Asked if the government of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin might survive post-election, Putin merely said, "We need to talk about this after the elections, after the votes are counted. It seems to me that now this is simply incorrect. But on the whole, the government is working ... quite satisfactorily.
But Russia's incremental advances in eastern Ukraine have come at horrific human cost. Speculation persists that Putin and his generals may need to launch a fresh round of post-election mobilization to feed troops into the meat grinder. In remarks following the closing of polls across Russia, Putin made an unusual move: He mentioned the unmentionable, the name of late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny.
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