President Putin has mocked democracy in the United States following his inevitable landslide victory in Russia's presidential election, which was tightly controlled by the Kremlin.
When Russian election officials said results gave him more than 87% of the vote, Putin said Russia's democracy was more transparent than many in the West.
Taking questions from reporters, he hailed Russia's presidential campaign as far more advanced than the US, citing Russia's use of online voting, which officials said brought in eight million voters.
Putin had earlier been filmed performing a single keystroke to exercise his democratic right.
"It's transparent and absolutely objective," he suggested, "not like in the US with mail-in voting... you can buy a vote for $10".
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