A message to the Russian people was addressed on Thursday by Vladimir Putin at shadow of his electoral victory with a percentage that exceeds 87%. The West, however, reported that the Russian elections they were not free, nor fair enough to be considered trustworthy. However, the Russian president thanked all Russians who participated in the elections, regardless of who they voted for.

“We chose the path of Russia’s progress, we chose the future for ourselves and our children. The importance of this fact was understood by the absolute majority of voters who came to the polls” he said.

Vladimir Putin addressed the Russians and thanked them for their support.

“Thank you all for your trust. I will do everything in my power to make her right”he promised.

The Russian president received 87.28% of the votethe head of the Russian Central Election Commission Ela Pamfilova officially announced on Thursday.

A total of 76,277,708 citizens went to the polls in Russia’s presidential election, voting for Putin, according to the report of the Russian Central Election Commission.

As for his three opponents, Nikolai Kharitonov of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation received 4.31% of the vote, Vladislav Davankov of the New People’s Party received 3.85% and Leonid Slutsky of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia received 3.20% . The three-day vote for the Russian presidential election ran from March 15 to 17.