President Vladimir Putin, who was re-elected for the fifth time in elections that were considered neither free nor fair, won 98.99% of the vote in Chechnya under the leadership of Ramzan Kadyrov, his best result at the national level, DPA points out. agency, quoted by Agerpres.

Voter turnout in the republic, which is part of the Russian Federation, reached 97%, even higher than the 91.44% recorded in 2018 and the highest in this year’s elections, the Central Election Commission reported on Monday.

Chechnya under the leadership of Ramzan Kadyrov has traditionally reported high voter turnout and strong support for Putin. The Kremlin leader, who is now seeking another six-year term, had his best result in 2012 with 99.76 percent of the vote.

However, voting in Chechnya is considered to be even more difficult than in the rest of Russia, as observers report cases of repression and the use of force in the region, DPA reports.

After coming to power, Putin ordered the destruction of the Chechen capital

Kadyrov, who presents himself as a loyal supporter of Putin, is accused of serious human rights violations and political crimes committed by paid assassins.

During his first term as prime minister in 1999, Putin sent troops into the republic, which had previously declared independence from Russia, leading to the complete destruction of the capital city of Grozny.

Putin also won about 90 percent of the vote in other Caucasian republics in last week’s presidential election, which began on Friday and in which he faced no real challengers.

After nearly all votes had been counted, the election commission announced that Putin had registered a record victory of nearly 88 percent, the best result of any of his four previous elections, DPA also noted.

International observers did not observe the election in a country that spans 11 time zones. The vote, which ended on Sunday, was accompanied by numerous protests by thousands of Putin’s opponents.