Vladimir Putin has won Russia's presidential election in a landslide victory, in which he reportedly gained 88% of the vote. He was sure to win after nobody who posed a serious threat was left in the running.
By Diana Magnay, international correspondentNow that that three-day electoral spectacle is done - a shiny semblance of democracy, unfree, unfair and underpinned by soviet-style repressions - what is next for Vladimir Putin and for the country he leads?Expect the state to clamp down still further on what remains of Russia's enfeebled civil society.
Russian nuclear weapons are big and terrifying, Russian society is one big happy family, the wartime economy is doing well, the multipolar future is here to stay - just keep the faith in this eternal war with the West. Many, perhaps most Russians will absorb that messaging because it is compellingly told and pervasive, but there is also a sense of unease vis-a-vis the war, an uncertainty and an unwillingness to look far ahead or plan for the future.
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