Victory speech: Putin thanks citizens, says Russia will become stronger

Moscow, March 18: Russian President Vladimir Putin, delivering a "victory speech" at his presidential campaign headquarters in Moscow, has thanked citizens after preliminary results by the country's Central Election Commission (CEC) showed him securing his fifth term in office.

Speaking in front of his supporters on Sunday night, Putin said that his win in the election will allow Russia to become stronger and more effective.

Besides thanking the citizens who came to the polling stations, Putin also expressed "special gratitude to our warriors on the line of contact", referring to the front line of the war in Ukraine.

"No matter who and how they would try to intimidate and suppress us, our will, our consciousness… Nobody in our history has ever succeeded, won't succeed now or in the future. Never," he added.

Putin stressed that the "only source of power in the country is the Russian people," adding that the vote of every citizen counts when it comes to charting the nation's course.

"I will do my best to solve the tasks set before the country and achieve the goals we all consider to be of the highest priority," he said.

The CEC data suggested that this year's election has been marked by a record 74 per cent voter turnout, exceeding the figure for the 2018 election (67.47 per cent).

According to the CEC, more than 80 per cent of the votes have been counted as of 1 a.m. Moscow time and Putin is leading the race with an estimated 87.15 per cent.