5 March 2012Last updated at 08:15

In pictures: Russia votes

Free newspapers are handed out in Moscow (5 March 2012)

Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has won the country's presidential elections, returning him to the top job after a four-years.

People hold a rally in support of Russia's current Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin in Manege Square near the Kremlin - 4/3/12

Mr Putin's supporters celebrated on Sunday night after preliminary results were announced. With more than 99% of the ballots counted, Mr Putin secured nearly 64% of the vote, election officials say.

Putin supporter dances at Moscow rally - 4 March

Tens of thousands gathered for the post-election rally, as celebrities and pop stars took the stage.

Vladimir Putin addresses a rally in Manege Square near the Kremlin (4 Mar 2012)

Mr Putin himself appeared with tears in his eyes and said: "We have won in an open and honest battle." He said the vote had been a "very important test... for Russia's political maturity and independence".

President Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin embrace at the rally in central Moscow - 4 March

Mr Putin will replace Dmitry Medvedev (L), who has been president since he left the post in 2008.

A woman checks her ballot before voting at a polling station during presidential election in Moscow, Russia.

The vote was at first expected to see an easy win for Mr Putin, who has already served two terms as president. But allegations of widespread fraud in last December's parliamentary elections set off an unprecedented wave of protests against him, and new scrutiny.

A woman speaks on the phone in front of screens feeding live broadcast from polling stations via a network of webcams at an election commission situational centre in Moscow.

Thousands of volunteers were recruited as election monitors, and webcams showed live footage of many polling stations. Opposition groups said that despite this, outside the capital vote-rigging was still taking place.

Interior Ministry vehicles parked outside the Kremlin

There was tight security for the elections, with an extra 6,000 police brought from outside Moscow into the city centre.

Russian servicemen queue to vote in a polling station on a military base just outside Moscow.

Russian servicemen were among the first to vote in an election that crossed several time zones.

A member of the local election commission carries a ballot box to a villager's house for him to vote in Russia's presidential election in Saltso near the town of Ostashkov, some 350km northwest of Moscow.

Across Russia's vast territory, officials took ballot boxes to those unable to come out and vote.

Man casts his ballot from inside his car in Novaya Rzhavka, in the western Smolensk region

Some voters were able to cast their ballots in the comfort of their cars.

In Pictures

In pictures: Russia votes

Share this page

Services

About BBC News