Im keenly aware that there is not a free opposition in Russia and from
an ideological point of view, this may be sufficient to discredit the recent
election in its entirety and as such put Russia in the China basket.
From the point of view of Political Realism, however, there was over 74%
voter turn out (much more than in a US Presidential election) and voting
in Russia is non-compulsory (like the USA) ; so IMO if the Russian public
were anti-Putin, the majority would have simply abstained/spoiled votes;
instead 87% voted for Putin.
(source the New Daily)
PS: ie: Putin got 62% of the entire electorate
