Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a sweeping victory in the country’s presidential election. His celebration came before official results were announced, but following exit polls released by state-run pollsters Russian Public Opinion Research Centre and the Public Opinion Foundation, which stated that Putin had won the election with 87% of the vote, ahead of the Communist party candidate, Nikolai Kharitonov. According to the Central Election Commission of Russia, with 80% of the votes counted, Putin’s total sat at 87.15%, with Kharitonov in second place at 4.22%. The election, whic…