Russian president Vladimir Putin won re-election after securing some 76.65% of votes with more than 90% counted on Sunday, March 18.

55 million Russian citizens voted for Putin in a widely expected outcome, with the overall turnout standing at 67%.

Putin has thus set two records in the history of Russian elections after winning the vote by the largest margin of victory with the biggest number of ballots cast in his favor.

None of the seven candidates who ran against him posed a threat, while opposition leader Alexei Navalny was barred from running.

After the majority of the ballots were counted, Putin thanked voters for their support at a victory rally and said Russia had a great future ahead of it provided its people stayed united.

His nearest challenger, Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin, got just 11.82%, while nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky got 5.68% .