"What was done against Putin worked to his favor"

75.67% of the votes cast for the incumbent president Vladimir Putin at the yesterday's presidential election with a turnout of 67.5% (which means 51% of all eligible citizens) mean the consolidation of Russians in response to external threats, the Russian political scientists told the correspondents of Vestnik Kavkaza, commenting on Putin's landmark victory in the election.

The director of the Institute of Political Studies Sergei Markov, called the external aggressive anti-Russian campaign the main factor of this record. "This campaign has been carried out since the end of 2013, and one of its peaks has been observed in recent weeks and now. The Russians responded to this pressure from the outside and acted like a Russian squad - one of the Western journalists called us like that. This is a firm patriotic response to the Russophobic tantrum, which is obviously a lying, unjust and dirty campaign," he stressed.

"As a result, the elections turned from a referendum on trust to Putin, as six years ago, into a celebration of patriotic enthusiasm. Many people who came to the polls voted not just for a candidate, they voted for Russia, as Putin became a symbol of Russia. And the outcome of the election now gives Vladimir Putin the opportunity to pursue the policy he considers necessary, since he was strongly supported by the absolute majority of Russians," Sergei Markov said.

The director of the Center for Political Information, Alexei Mukhin, agreed with him. "The factors that were expected to work against Vladimir Putin worked to his favor. First of all, I mean the unprecedented external pressure, especially Theresa May's attempts at the last stages of the presidential campaign. It led to the mobilization of the electorate - those people, which, perhaps, did not plan to vote, if there were more peaceful times. I think that the external pressure and efforts of the CEC to organize comfortable voting helped Putin to achieve 5-6 million votes more," he said.

"In addition, it was also the merit of the Russian opposition, because its appeals to the so-called boycott of the elections mobilized electoral groups. As a result, those who wanted a low turnout and failure of Vladimir Putin in the elections got strictly the opposite, because their actions stimulated citizens to come and to vote. Now, Vladimir Putin has a very serious responsibility to implement a number of changes, especially in the economy and the social sphere," Alexei Mukhin expects.

A political analyst, Candidate of Historical Sciences Oleg Kuznetsov, drew attention to the high quality of the presidential election campaign. "A very important point is the change in the paradigm of Vladimir Putin's personal associations with regard to Russia. If during the first two terms of Putin's presidency he represented the ruling United Russia party, in 2012 he represented the All-Russian People's Front, then now he was a self-nominated candidate, positioning himself as a national leader," he said.

"Of course, he perfectly used those constitutional mechanisms existing in our country, first of all, his address to the Federal Assembly. All other candidates were associated as certain persons who have their own private views on the future of the country, but Putin turned out to be a candidate who personifies the national interests and representation of the whole nation," Oleg Kuznetsov stressed.

The political consultant expects noticeable changes in the Russian government during the fourth term of Vladimir Putin's presidency. "I think that the system of organization of power based on this or that part of society will cease to exist. There will be maximum representation of competent professionals in the power," the expert predicts.