Catherine Field: Europe Correspondent on the reaction to Vladimir Putin's landslide win in the Russian Election

Published: March 18, 2024, 8:51 p.m.

Vladimir Putin has claimed a fifth term as Russia\u2019s President. \xa0

He took an early lead with 88% of the vote upon polls closing on Sunday, and the full count saw him secure the win with 87.28%.\xa0

While several countries have congratulated Putin\u2019s win, Europe is not under the impression that his win was fair. \xa0

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky called Putin a power-hungry \u201cdictator\u201d, who is \u201csick from power\u201d, Italy\u2019s Foreign Minister said the election was \u201cneither free nor fair\u201d, and the Czech Prime Minister called the election a \u201cfarce parody\u201d.\xa0

Europe Correspondent Catherine Field told Mike Hosking that the French President went even further, saying he couldn\u2019t congratulate someone for an election \u201clined with the death of those who fought for pluralism in Russia.\u201d\xa0

She said that there\u2019s a lot of concern about Putin\u2019s plans for Ukraine and Transnistria, a region of Moldova bordering Ukraine that has a high population of Russians.\xa0

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