The 2018 Russian presidential election was held on 18 March 2018. Incumbent President Vladimir Putin won re-election to a fourth term with about 77% of the votes, breaking the 2004 all-time high record, and avoiding a run-off election.

On 6 December 2017, Putin announced that he would seek re-election for a second consecutive term and fourth term overall. Putin was generally expected to win based on opinion polls.

Other candidates in the election included Pavel Grudinin of the Communist Party who received around 12% of the vote (the lowest ever for the Communist Party) and Vladimir Zhirinovsky of the LDPR who received around 6% of the vote. Alexei Navalny was prohibited from running due to a previous conviction for corruption; his supporters, and international observers, have asserted that his conviction was politically motivated.

Sources and Further Reading:

Russia election: Vladimir Putin wins by big margin

https://www.wsj.com/articles/putin-wins-fresh-six-year-term-in-russian-election-1521396635