Putin Aide on ‘Sham’ Election Attacks: ‘Not Going to Justify Ourselves’

The Kremlin “will not justify ourselves” in response to Western criticism of President Vladimir Putin’s re-election in last weekend’s presidential poll, an aide to the Russian leader has said, after the U.S. described the contest as “undemocratic.” Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesperson, told Newsweek in a statement on Wednesday that the Russian leader’s “landslide victory reflects two things: the extent of consolidation of society around the president’s agenda and the scant numbers of those in opposition to him.” “There have been no serious protests or acts of vandalism either in Russia, or abroad—only singular cases,” Peskov said, responding to several cases…