Vladimir Putin will still define Russia"s political course over the next six years.

According to the Russian Central Election Commission, after the count of 99 percent of ballot papers, the Russian president has gained more than 76 percent of the votes. By this, Vladimir Putin has improved his own record number of votes.

In the second place with almost 12 percent is the Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the candidate of the Russian Liberal Democrats, receivd more than 5 percent of the votes. Ksenia Sobchak has almost 2% and is in the fourth place.

According to the Central Election Commission, 67% of voters arrived at polling stations.