Moscow — Russia’s Vladimir Putin secured another six years in power after a record election win, but international leaders were slow to congratulate him on Monday amid a new spike in tensions, as his opponents accused him of vote-rigging. Putin, who has ruled Russia for almost two decades, had his best-ever election performance with 76.66% of the vote but appeared to reject the possibility of staying in power indefinitely. Opposition and independent monitors reported ballot stuffing and other cases of alleged electoral fraud as the Kremlin pushed for a high turnout to give greater legitimacy to Putin’s historic fourth term. But fewer irregularities were reported than in previous years, with an OSCE observer mission saying that although the election was marred by a lack of “genuine competition”, it was generally well conducted. Putin’s supporters said Western pressure on the Russian leader, including British allegations of his involvement in a spy poisoning row and an Olympic doping ...
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