Vladimir Putin, who was just re-elected for a new six-year term, hailed the “return to the homeland” of Ukrainian territories claimed by Moscow to a crowd in Red Square on Monday, AFP reported.

“The return to the homeland turned out to be more difficult, more tragic, but we succeeded, and this is a great event in the history of our state,” Putin said on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea.

Putin has a free hand in Ukraine

Vladimir Putin’s expected victory in Sunday’s election gives the president a free hand to continue the war in Ukraine, despite the loss of life, and perhaps further test the West, analysts cited by international media say.

At home, the Kremlin leader will try to strengthen his control over society by turning Russia into a militarized state, sources close to the Kremlin, who wished to remain anonymous, told independent media.

As for the war, the Russian president seems to have enough room for maneuver at the moment.

Putin is already looking increasingly confident, especially after the fall of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka in February this year. In an interview with moderator and propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov before the elections, Putin highlighted this very topic for discussion.

“Conducting negotiations now only because they have run out of ammunition is kind of ridiculous on our part,” he said, noting that Ukraine is in trouble.

In fact, noted Tetyana Stanova, an expert at the Eurasian Center of Carnegie Russia, in the pre-election analysis, Putin is declaratively in favor of ending the war at the negotiating table.

“But this means the capitulation of Ukraine,” Stanova was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

Still, Russia’s progress in eastern Ukraine has come at a huge human cost, according to the West, and some sources have suggested that Moscow may have to launch a new round of mobilization.

Whether or not this will happen remains to be seen.

Bryn Rosenfeld, a Cornell University professor who studies post-communist politics, hinted at this when he told the Associated Press that Putin was only giving Russians bad news after the election.

However, Stanova suggested that it is quite possible that additional mobilization will not be needed. Explanation: Many Russians from poor regions have already voluntarily joined the army to receive high salaries.

Some observers suggest that, emboldened by the election results and a sense of the weakening of the unity of Ukraine’s allies, Putin may try to test the West. Exactly how this will happen is not yet clear, and it may also depend on the outcome of the US election in November.

Alexandra Vakrou, executive director of Harvard University’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, suggested to the Associated Press that such a test could be a cyberattack.

In February, the Congress of the separatist region of Transnistria turned to Moscow for diplomatic “protection” due to the alleged increase in pressure from Chisinau.

The call provides plenty of opportunity for “escalation,” Christian Kantier, a professor of international relations at Oakland University, also told the Associated Press.

Vladimir Putin scored a record election victory in post-Soviet Russia on Sunday, as the 71-year-old former KGB officer won a new six-year term. If he completes his term, he will surpass Joseph Stalin and become Russia’s longest-reigning leader in 200 years.