According to experts of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Kremlin leader will try to use the declared "record" results in the presidential elections to create information conditions to justify the ongoing conflict and the prolonged occupation of part of Ukraine, UNN reports .
Russian President Vladimir Putin is attempting to use the reported record voter turnout and support for his candidacy to create information prerequisites for a protracted war in Ukraine. The Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) announced on March 18 that Putin won the presidential election with 87.28% of the vote.
The Institute for the Study of War also writes that Russian occupation officials have falsified record high support for Putin in occupied Ukraine.
According to the CEC, Putin won between 88.12% and 95.23% of the vote in the occupied Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson regions and Crimea. (...) Ukrainian citizens were probably forced to participate in the elections, which were inherently coercive, given the large number of Russian troops operating in occupied Ukraine, ISW notes.
The Kremlin claims that the record voter turnout and high public support for Putin demonstrated Russia's unity and trust in the dictator.