Putin Declares Victory in Sham Presidential Election

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Russia’s widely criticized presidential election, Israeli troops raiding a major Gaza hospital, and South Korea hosting the Summit for Democracy.

‘Not Free Nor Fair’

Russian President Vladimir Putin extended his reign for a fifth term on Sunday in a presidential election whose outcome was predetermined. Putin, 71, won 87 percent of the vote, his highest tally since coming to power in 1999. He is the longest-serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin, and if he sees his term to its end in 2030, he will be the longest-serving Russian leader since Catherine the Great.

Moscow’s three-day election, held this weekend, was the least transparent vote in recent Russian history, according to independent Russian vote-monitoring group Golos. All genuine opposition candidates were barred from running, imprisoned, dead, or in exile. The only three people allowed to run posed no real threat to Putin’s hold on power. Much of the international community blames Putin directly for the death of his main opponent, Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian penal colony last month.

Russian officials said voter turnout reached 77 percent this weekend, hitting a record high since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Yet Golos documented more than 1,400 reports of potential electoral violations, including vote-stuffing, by midafternoon on Sunday. Locals in Russian-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine were reportedly instructed to vote under the watch of armed Russian troops, and anyone found to have obstructed voting procedures was threatened with up to five years in prison.

“The elections are obviously not free nor fair,” U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky further condemned the vote, saying: “These days, the Russian dictator is simulating another election. It is clear to everyone in the world that this figure, as it has already often happened in the course of history, is simply sick for power and is doing everything to rule forever.”

In his victory speech, Putin lauded Russia’s war on Ukraine as helping to “consolidate society” around his leadership. He also warned that direct confrontation between Russia and NATO would be “one step away from a full-scale World War III,” adding that “anything is possible in today’s world.” Regional experts predict that Putin will use his victory to possibly launch new unpopular policies, as is historic practice for the Kremlin—potentially including a new military mobilization order.

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The World This Week

Tuesday, March 19: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. hosts U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg meets with Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Defense ministers gather at Ramstein Air Base in Germany for a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

Wednesday, March 20: South Korea concludes hosting the three-day Summit for Democracy.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira concludes a six-day trip to the Middle East.

Thursday, March 21: The World Trade Organization’s General Council kicks off a two-day meeting.

Belgium hosts the two-day Nuclear Energy Summit.

Saturday, March 23: Ghana concludes hosting the 2024 African Games.

Bolivia conducts a nationwide census.

Slovakia holds a presidential election.

Sunday, March 24: Senegal holds a rescheduled presidential election.

What We’re Following

Hospital attack. Israel launched a raid on Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical center in the Gaza Strip, on Monday. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), troops conducted a “precise operation” to “thwart terrorist activity” in the complex, targeting senior Hamas officials allegedly inside the building. The IDF said it detained 80 suspects and killed 20 militants, including Faiq Mabhouh, the head of operations for the Hamas government’s internal security forces. The Gaza Health Ministry said Israeli soldiers killed numerous Palestinian civilians sheltering in and around Al-Shifa during the raid.

This was the second major assault on Al-Shifa’s facility since war broke out on Oct. 7, 2023. Last November, Israeli forces raided Al-Shifa after claiming that Hamas had a command center within and beneath the hospital. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, around 30,000 Palestinians, including patients and medical staff, are currently in the complex.

Also on Monday, Israeli negotiators traveled to Doha, Qatar, to resume cease-fire talks. Israeli officials hope to secure the release of all hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza. Hamas leaders continue to call for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and more humanitarian aid deliveries, among other demands. Dialogue comes as the European Union’s foreign-policy chief, Josep Borrell, accused Israel over the weekend of “provoking famine” in Gaza.

Summit for Democracy. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol kicked off the three-day Summit for Democracy on Monday by calling on countries to work together to combat fake news and disinformation. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed his remarks, adding that “as authoritarian and repressive regimes deploy technologies to undermine democracy and human rights, we need to ensure that technology sustains and supports democratic values and norms.”

As the proceedings got underway, though, North Korea launched several short-range ballistic missiles into the Pacific waters off its eastern coast on Monday. Seoul, along with Japan and the United States, called the military actions a “clear provocation,” and mere hours later, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik accused Pyongyang of shipping around 7,000 containers carrying munitions and other military equipment to Moscow last year.

“Antiterrorist operations.” Pakistan launched two airstrikes into eastern Afghanistan on Monday, killing at least eight people, including three children. Pakistan’s foreign ministry said it had carried out “intelligence-based antiterrorist operations” and accused the Taliban of aiding militants associated with Jaish-e-Mohammed, an Islamist group connected to the Pakistani Taliban that allegedly attacked a military post near the Afghan border over the weekend.

“Terrorism against us is mostly being conducted from Afghanistan,” said Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif. The Afghan Taliban denied the accusations. Last year, most of the more than 650 attacks reported in Pakistan targeted provinces that bordered Afghanistan. And Islamabad maintains that its main adversary is Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, a militant group ideologically aligned with the Afghan Taliban.

Odds and Ends

There may be such a thing as too much money. Australian billionaire Clive Palmer announced last Wednesday that he is relaunching efforts to build Titanic II, arguing that “it’s a lot more fun to do the Titanic than it is to sit at home and count my money.” The multimillion-dollar project initially ground to a halt during the pandemic as passengers reconsidered the risk of being quarantined at sea. As if being on a ship modeled after the world’s most infamous maritime disaster isn’t enough of a warning.