Putin wins Russian election with 878 of the votes, exit poll shows

Vladimir Putin has won the Russian election with 87.8 per cent of the vote, exit polls show. 

The despot is heading for a landslide victory in the presidential election to secure another six year term, the poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre showed this evening. 

The vote, which holds little suspense, is taking place against the backdrop of the harshest crackdown on political opposition and freedom of speech in Russia since Soviet times. 

Only three token candidates - and no one who opposes his war in Ukraine - were allowed to run against him as he sought a fifth term. 

Earlier, thousands across the nation who oppose the veteran Kremlin leader had gone to their local polling station at midday to either spoil their ballot paper in protest or to vote for one of the three candidates standing against Putin.

Putin wins Russian election with 87.8% of the votes, exit poll shows

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Others had vowed to scrawl the name of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died last month in an Arctic prison, on their ballot paper.

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Speaker Mike Johnson revealed that he expects the House to hold a standalone vote on Israel and Ukraine aid as pressure builds from the Senate after it passed foreign aid package last month. He insisted he would not be pressured to rush the Senate package to the floor as the White House says Ukraine's need for defense aid is urgent to keep Russian President Vladimir Putin at bay.

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Navalny's allies broadcast videos on YouTube of lines of people queuing up at different polling stations across Russia at midday who they said were there to peacefully protest.

Navalny had endorsed the 'Noon against Putin' plan in a message on social media facilitated by his lawyers before he died. The independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper called the planned action 'Navalny's political testament'.