They get what they want: Putin wins, Communists 2nd

Preliminary results show Vladimir Putin securing 63.18 per cent of votes in Russia's presidential election, with his closest rival Gennady Zyuganov taking 17.33 per cent.

So far, the Central Election Commission has counted some 25 per cent of the ballots. Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Mikhail Prokhorov are waging a real political battle for third place, with both winning the support of roughly 7.35 per cent of voters. Sergey Mironov is running fifth, with some 3.67 per cent of votes cast.