Vladimir Putin yesterday rejected opposition protests against his presidential election victory and his foreign ministry ruled out any softening of Moscow’s stance on Syria, a strong indication that the Russian leader has no intention of easing tough policies at home or abroad.

Massive fraud marked election, including carousel voting

The harsh statements came after helmeted riot police forcefully broke up Monday’s opposition attempt to occupy a Moscow square in a challenge to Mr Putin’s victory. They arrested about 250 people who were later released.

Mr Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov defended the police action, saying that it showed a “high level of professionalism, legitimacy and effectiveness”, signalling that the government would show no hesitation to use force again on protesters.

Mr Putin, president from 2000 to 2008 before becoming prime minister due to term limits, won more than 63 per cent of Sunday’s vote. The opposition and independent observers said the election was marred by massive fraud, including so-called “carousel voting” in which busloads of voters are driven around to cast ballots multiple times.

Mr Putin shrugged off opposition claims of rampant vote fraud as irrelevant today. “It’s an element of political struggle, it has no relation to the election,” he said.

His campaign has been laced with anti-American sentiment, including claims that the US instigated the opposition protests to weaken Russia – strident rhetoric that resonated well with his core support base of blue-collar workers, farmers and state employees.