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Putin on Red Square in Moscow: "Congratulations on the holiday"

Photo: Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP

His pseudo-re-election was a farce, sharp criticism comes from the West - Vladimir Putin is still in a celebratory mood: The Kremlin leader celebrated his victory and the tenth anniversary of the annexation of the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.

»I congratulate you on the holiday.

“Long live Russia!” Putin shouted on Red Square in Moscow in front of thousands of people who were cheering and waving Russian flags.

State television broadcast the performance, which was preceded by concerts by artists loyal to the Kremlin.

The 71-year-old Putin, who has been in power for around a quarter of a century, also brought his three opponents Nikolai Kharitonov, Vladislav Davankov and Leonid Slutsky onto the stage.

From the outset they were considered to have no chance in the “election” and during the event they were clearly in line with the Kremlin.

Opposing candidates appear submissive

With a view to the illegal referendum that sealed Moscow's annexation of the Ukrainian Crimea in 2014, the communist Kharitonov praised Putin for "bringing Crimea home."

The liberal Davankov assured that he would never forget "the feeling of pride for my country and my president."

Putin, who has been waging a large-scale war of aggression against Ukraine for more than two years, was also celebrated for the partial conquest and annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia.

In the sham election, which ran from Friday to Sunday and was classified by observers as undemocratic, Putin ended up with a record result of more than 87 percent and thus secured a fifth term in office.

Real opposition members were not allowed as candidates.

Independent election observers also complained that the election was characterized by propaganda, coercion and fraud.

The European Union has meanwhile imposed new sanctions against Russia.

This is the EU's response to the death of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison camp in mid-February.

Germany and the other 26 EU states accuse Putin and the Russian authorities of being to blame for the politician's death.

Accordingly, several representatives of the Russian justice system were sanctioned.

eru/dpa