Report: Chechens Grateful for Bombing of Grozny

Michael C. Moynihan | December 4, 2007

Via Reuters, some details of Vladimir Putin's dodgy landslide victory in Saturday's election. According to recently released figures from the country's Central Election Commission, Putin managed a Saddam Hussein-like showing in Chechnya, a country not previously known for its slavish devotion to the Kremlin line:

Russia's volatile Chechnya, once President Vladimir Putin's biggest headache, ironically turned out to be a big success story for him in Sunday's election, according to official figures.

But the Central Election Commission's figures, showing that Chechens voted in droves for the Kremlin chief's party United Russia, had some locals scratching their heads.

[...]

The figures indicated that 99.2 percent of voters in the war-ravaged region of southern Russia had taken part in the poll and 99.3 percent of them had voted for United Russia.

This was the highest vote for Putin anywhere in Russia, where overall turnout was 62 percent and just over 64 percent of votes were cast for United Russia.

Full story.

(Hat tip: Rob W.)