With Mr. Putin brutally suppressing dissent, Sunday’s presidential election provided Russians no genuine alternatives to him.
Mr. Putin continued by stating that there was “no effect” to protesters during the election and that any “crimes” will be dealt with following the results.
In addition, he said that just a few days prior to Alexei Navalny’s untimely murder in an Arctic prison last month, he had been made aware of plans to free his most ardent political opponent.
He declared that he was open to the proposal as long as Mr. Navalny stayed out of Russia.
