President Vladimir Putin, who has pledged to deliver stability to Russia and end poverty, has swept back into the Kremlin according to an exit poll on Sunday

President Vladimir Putin, who has pledged to deliver stability to Russia and end poverty, has swept back into the Kremlin according to an exit poll on Sunday that showed him with a huge lead in elections. The poll, published by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) shortly after voting in the world's biggest country closed at 1800 gmt, said Putin had gathered 69 percent of the vote. Putin's victory genuinely reflects his high standing and had never been in doubt. But the United States, even before polling ended, questioned the fairness of the campaign in which state-dominated media had given Putin blanket coverage denied to his opponents. Liberal critics say the autocratic style of the former KGB spy, the war in rebel Chechnya that goes largely unreported by Russian media and the promotion of state security officials to senior positions pose threats to the future of democracy. The Central Election Commission said four hours before polls closed after a colourless campaign that voter turnout had passed the 50 percent level needed to make the election legal. Ruthless manoeuvring had put Putin, 51, beyond the reach of five rivals, handing him tsar-like powers to pull Russia out of the mire left after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The only real threat to his re-election had been that less than 50 percent of the 109 million-strong electorate would vote. The election seals Putin's grip on power, giving him four years to push through promised reforms to bring a measure of wealth and stability to Russia's masses, whose living standards plunged in the turmoil that followed the Soviet collapse. But even before polling ended in Moscow, the United States voiced concern over the manner of Putin's imminent victory.