Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed a landslide victory in Russia’s presidential election, with election officials giving him more than 87% of the vote.

However, Western countries have condemned the election as a sham, with no credible opposition candidate allowed.

There was some symbolic opposition with the “Noon against Putin” initiative backed by Yulia Navalnaya – the widow of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Putin told journalists that he had agreed to a swap deal to free Navalny before the opposition leader had died in an Arctic prison. It was the first time the Kremlin leader had uttered Navalny’s name in public in years.

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