Vladimir Putin will today address the nation after he bagged a landslide victory in Russia's 'most corrupt parliamentary elections ever.'
With more than 85 per cent of ballots counted on Monday, the Central Election Commission said Putin's United Russia party had won almost half of the vote, with its nearest rival, the Communist Party, at just under 20 per cent.
The results came after videos emerged which appeared to show ballot stuffing in favour of the pro-Kremlin party and opponents claimed the election was rigged.
Irina, 61, a retired doctor, told The Times: 'I vote so that at least my vote can be registered, and so no one can steal that vote from me. These elections are even worse than previous ones. They've purged the field.'
The parliamentary landslide leaves Putin's presidency unchallenged in the legislature ahead of the next presidential election in 2024.
The 68-year-old former KGB spy was due to address the nation on Monday morning.
Putin, who has been in power as prime minister or president since 1999, has yet to say whether he will run at the next presidential election.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to address the nation this morning after his party secured a landslide in the parliamentary elections (pictured: attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan via video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow on Friday)
Members of a local electoral commission empty a ballot box at a polling station after the last day of the three-day parliamentary election, in Moscow, on September 19
In Pyotr Dubrava, Samara region at polling station 706 an election official is seen filling in papers before walking over to place them in a ballot box
In Belovo, Kemerovo region, a hidden figure behind a woman I yellow repeatedly stuffs ballots into a polling box
Despite the emphatic election win, United Russia saw a slightly weaker performance than at the last parliamentary election in 2016, when the party won just over 54 per cent of the vote.
A malaise over years of faltering living standards and allegations of corruption from jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny have drained some support, compounded by a tactical voting campaign organised by Navalny's allies.
Kremlin critics, who alleged large-scale vote rigging, said the election was in any case a sham.
United Russia would have fared much worse in a fair contest, given a pre-election crackdown that outlawed Navalny's movement, barred his allies from running and targeted critical media and non-governmental organisations, they said.
Electoral authorities said they had voided any results at voting stations where there had been obvious irregularities and that the overall contest had been fair.
At a celebratory rally last night at United Russia's headquarters broadcast on state television, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, a close ally of the Russian leader, shouted: 'Putin! Putin! Putin!'
The results came after shocking videos were revealed allegedly showing illegal rigging in favour of the main pro-Putin party which pundits expect to win a clear majority.
In Vladivostok, a camera behind a plant showed an official apparently marking many
