Putin declared winner

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, MARCH 27. Russia's acting President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, swept to victory in Sunday's Presidential elections, capturing over a half of all votes cast, enough to avoid going into a second round.

With over 95 per cent of the votes counted by Monday afternoon, Mr. Putin was declared winner with 52.6 per cent. His main rival, the Communist leader, Mr. Gennady Zyuganov, came second with 29.3 per cent, and the liberal leader, Mr. Grigory Yavlinsky, was third with 5.8 per cent. Eight other candidates, including the maverick nationalist leader, Mr. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, trailed far behind.

Mr. Zyuganov was quick to claim that the vote had been falsified. ``We, in reality, have some 40 per cent of the votes and any attempt to make it 50 and more (for Putin) will mean falsification,'' he said, as votes were still being counted.

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