Vladimir Putin, a crushing his re-election victory, for six more years as Russias president.

There had been no doubt that Putin would win in his fourth electoral contest. With 99.8% of the votes counted, Putin won with 76.7%, according to Central Election Commission data. It means Putin will rule until 2024, when he will be 71 and obliged by law to step down. So he is Russia’s longest-serving leader since Josef Stalin. Vladimir Putin had not serious challenger, he faced seven minor candidates. His fiercest opponent, Alexei Navalny, was barred from the race. His only real challenge was to run up the tally so high that he could claim an indisputable mandate. He declared victory in front of thousands of people gathered in below-freezing temperatures at Moscow's Manezhnaya Square near the Kremlin, where he called for unity in the country. “We are bound for success”,- sayed Vladimir Putin. Observers and individual voters reported widespread violations including ballot-box stuffing and forced voting. Lastly, Putin has been in the center of accusations by western states like England and USA. Russia has been embroiled in a diplomatic crisis with the UK in the run-up to the vote over the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy, his daughter and a police officer on British soil earlier this month. British Prime Minister Theresa May has openly blamed Russia for the incident, which UK officials say involved a military-grade nerve agent. After declaring victory Sunday, Putin flatly denied Moscow played any part in it. Relations with the United States took another hit after Washington on Thursday announced new sanctions on Russia over its reported meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. Russia has vowed retaliation.