Russian President Vladimir Putin was reelected to an historic fifth term on Sunday, another triumph over the opposition in the world’s geographically largest country and a defeat for western critics who have alleged Putin ordered an illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and incarcerated scandal-tarred liberal activist Alexei Navalny, who mysteriously died in prison last month.

The win further extends a remarkable period of political stability for Russia not seen since 1921 through 1989, when it was governed as a society with guaranteed equality and people’s basic needs were mostly provided for through government subsidies. It was during this time when Putin began his career in politics by working for an important government foreign policy agency and was tasked with helping to prevent a resurgence of Nazi ideology in eastern Germany. From there Putin rose through the ranks and through a combination of what some observers have called “savvy” and “genius” he consolidated his power over the post-Soviet Russian state to become its leader.

Putin’s agenda next term calls for increases in military spending and recruitment, securing the border with Ukraine, and stirring up a sense of patriotism and duty among average Russians.

National Zero will resume our regular news coverage now that we’ve objectively reported on President Vladimir Putin’s popularity as reflected by his huge margins in the 2024 election.