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Addressing supporters after a landslide reelection win Sunday with more than 76 percent of the vote, Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized the importance of unity.
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"It's very important to maintain this unity. We will think about the future of our great Motherland," said Putin, before leading the crowd in repeated chants of "Russia!" He told a meeting of supporters afterwards that difficult times were ahead, but that Russia had a chance to make "a breakthrough."
Putin also highlighted foreign policy priorities, including ties with neighboring China.
"China is our strategic partner, relations between Russia and China are at an unprecedented level, and we appreciate it very much (...) without a doubt, we will do our best to increase Russian-Chinese cooperation."
Shortly after the last polls closed, the country’s election authorities, Central Election Commission, said that President Putin had 73.9 percent of the vote, while his Communist party challenger Pavel Grudinin came in second place with 11.2 percent.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, head of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, was on 6.7 pct, and TV personality Ksenia Sobchak had 2.5 percent, the exit poll from pollster VTsIOM showed.
Putin and candidates Ksenia Sobchak and Vladimir Zhirinovsky cast their ballots in Moscow, while Pavel Grudinin carried out the process elsewhere outside the capital. Boris Titov and Grigory Yavlinsky have also logged their ballots.
The Central Election Commission reported that as of 5:00 p.m. Moscow time 51.9 percent of Russia’s 110 million voters had taken part, compared to 47.6 percent recorded at the same time six years ago.
Recent opinion polls had put Putin comfortably ahead, harnessing an unassailable 70 percent support: almost 10 times more than any of his competitors. TASS is reporting that about 13,000 journalists from 2,400 Russian media outlets and 1,400 others from 400 countries will cover the elections.
According to the head of the OSCE Observer Mission, Jan Petersen, the group has received "reports from 291 teams throughout whole Russia which means that we have a lot of information to process before we can give the full picture. And I think it's very, very important that we do not voice any opinion based on very limited number of observations."
Seven hopefuls were vying for the post, but Putin's reputation provided a difficult platform to compete with. The incumbent ran with the slogan 'A strong president, a strong Russia' and very few candidates have achieved the same level of support.
"He is our president. We take pride in him," said Marianna Shanina, a resident of the Crimea region. "We wish him victory at the election. Our whole family will vote for Putin."
Alexei Khvorostov, a Krasnodar resident, said: "There is no intrigue. I do not see any point for me in going to the election."
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Shortly before voting day on TV, Putin urged citizens to vote: "I, therefore, ask you to come to the polling stations on Sunday, use your right to choose a future for the great Russia that we love."
Some businesses have taken the president's message to heart, forcing employees to participate in order to boost turnout at the polls.
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