Vladimir Putin celebrates his fake election win
He claims he secured 87% of the vote
![Vladimir Putin](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240330_EUP505.jpg)
Vladimir Putin looked smirkingly triumphant as he strode onto a Red Square that had been filled with thousands of flag-waving extras, herded in to demonstrate unity and support. This spectacle, on March 18th, a day after the election that gave him yet another presidential term, was designed to give legitimacy to a dictator whose power rests on violence, lies and corruption; and it cleverly doubled up with the celebration of the annexation of Crimea exactly ten years earlier. “Glory to Russia,” he shouted, clutching a microphone and cueing up the Stalin-era Soviet national anthem, which he brought back to Russia in 2000 after he first became the country’s president.
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This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “After the show”
Europe March 23rd 2024
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