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Vladimir Putin during his speech at the campaign headquarters in Moscow
Photo: Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP
Russian head of state Vladimir Putin thanked his compatriots for taking part in the so-called presidential election.
During his speech at the campaign headquarters in Moscow, he mentioned the late opposition figure Alexei Navalny for the first time.
»A few days before Navalny's death, I learned that there was an idea to exchange him for people imprisoned in Western countries.
You can believe me or not,” Putin said during his speech to supporters.
»I said yes.
“But unfortunately what had to happen happened,” Putin continued.
The Kremlin chief also named a condition for the prisoner exchange.
»We'll exchange him, but we don't want him to come back.
But that’s life,” Putin said.
Navalny's long-time confidant Leonid Volkov called Putin's statement a month after the Kremlin opponent's death "cynical."
Putin actually killed his opponent so that he wouldn't have to be replaced.
He described Putin as a "blood-sucking bug" who would soon burst.
The 47-year-old Navalny was sentenced to decades in prison in Russia and died in a prison camp in northern Russia in mid-February.
Putin said to the Russians: "We are a united team, all Russian citizens who came to the polling stations and voted."
The speech to his campaign team was broadcast on state television.
According to partial results, Putin got around 87 percent in the mock elections.
He is now facing another six-year term at the helm of Russia.
Putin's victory in the three-day presidential election was considered a foregone conclusion from the start.
All of the Kremlin leader's best-known critics are either dead, imprisoned or in exile.
Another term in office will allow Putin to rule until 2030, longer than any Russian leader since Catherine the Great in the 18th century.
In his speech, Putin addressed "special words of gratitude" "to our soldiers" who are "performing the most important task of protecting our people" in Ukraine.
lpz/AFP/Reuters/dpa