Western leaders have criticized Vladimir Putin’s recent election victory in Russia, with figures like Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby labeling the election as illegitimate and lacking freedom and fairness. UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron and officials from Italy and the Czech Republic also denounced the election, citing the absence of independent monitoring and describing it as neither free nor fair, with some calling it a farce. On the other hand, allies of Russia, such as Beijing and Venezuela, have congratulated Putin on his victory.

Putin’s victory follows a troubled backdrop of increasing tensions with NATO and the West, particularly over the “special military operation” in Ukraine, which has been ongoing since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Alongside this, the election has faced significant scrutiny for the lack of genuine competition—most notably, the absence of Putin’s primary opponent, Alexei Navalny, who passed away in custody, and the imprisonment or exile of other critics. The election, yielding an 88% victory for Putin over three days of voting, has been decried by international observers and political figures as a sham, drawing comparisons to authoritarian regimes.

Furthermore, amid this political turmoil, Ukraine has reported over 128,000 victims of war crimes, pointing to the severe human toll of the conflict. Putin’s threats of escalation with NATO, implying the risk of World War 3, have only deepened global anxieties about the stability of the region and the future of international relations.

International responses have diversified, with some nations urging for increased military aid to Ukraine and calls for China to join peace talks, highlighting the global implications and concerns surrounding Putin’s continued rule, the conflict in Ukraine, and the state of democracy in Russia.