And now, we go to Crimea where more than 90% of the residents voted for Putin.
Nikolai Dolgachev has the details.
- Good morning, Nikolai. What was special about this weekend in Crimea?
- Greetings, Yekaterina.
People were really enthusiastic to vote. Yesterday, people started coming to the polling stations early in the morning bringing their multigenerational families along. The final turnout was rather high — about 64%. More than 90% of voters from Crimea and Sevastopol voted for Vladimir Putin. He won by a landslide basically confirming the political mood that hasn't changed over four years.
Some people even call this vote "the second referendum". Four years ago, March 18 saw a historical event, the reunification of Crimea with the Russian Federation, making it a Russian territory following the 2014 referendum. Many people who we talked to at the polling stations said they associated the event with Vladimir Putin personally and confirmed that the political mood of Crimeans hasn't changed over the years despite the foreign sanctions and the economic, infrastructural, and energy blockade imposed by Ukraine.
Still, over the past four years, Crimea has undergone some positive changes. New major infrastructural projects have been launched there including the Crimea Bridge that you could see behind my back. The construction is ongoing. In the near future, cars will be able to get straight to Crimea. The car section will be finished this year. The railroad section will be opened next year. Energy bridges between the mainland and the peninsula have already been launched. Crimea is also becoming more attractive for investors.
But many people claim it's not the main thing. The main thing is that nobody doubts their political choice. The results of the vote confirm that over the past four years the peninsula got fully integrated into the country's common space in terms of politics, economy, and culture. It almost seems Crimea never left Russia so organic and natural the reunification feels.
- Thank you, Nikolai. Nikolai Dolgachev has told us about the first time Crimea voted as a part of Russia.
