What did Mr. Putin say after the spectacular victory?

According to preliminary data from the Central Election Commission (CEC), after 97% of the votes were counted, Mr. Putin is leading the Russian presidential election with 76.6% of the votes. With this result, Putin was re-elected as Russian president with an overwhelming majority over other candidates.

Immediately upon receiving this result, the Russian leader expressed his gratitude to all his supporters and voters, emphasizing that the election results showed that the Russian people supported his political path despite the difficult times that Russia had gone through.

Speaking to reporters and journalists, Mr. Putin also emphasized: "Success awaits us. Together, we will do great things, in the name of Russia."

When asked by a reporter whether we would see “an old Putin or a new Putin” in the next six years, Mr. Putin smiled and replied: “Everything changes. We all change.”

"It is important to maintain this spirit of unity. We must think about the future of our great Fatherland," Mr Putin said before asking the crowd to chant: "Russia!" He added that there would be difficulties ahead, but Russia had a chance to achieve a breakthrough.

The Russian leader also cracked a smile when asked whether he would run for re-election in 2024. "Let's do the math, do you think I will be in power until I'm 100 years old?" he said.

Russia has 97,000 polling stations, 400 of which are located abroad. More than 108 million people in Russia and nearly two million Russians living abroad are eligible to vote in this year's election. The CEC deputy chairman said turnout was more than 67%. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said a record number of Russians voted at diplomatic missions abroad, but did not give specific figures.