Prime Minister Vladimir Putin won a six-year term as Russia's president in an election on Sunday, exit polls showed.
Putin won 58.3 per cent of the vote, enough to avoid a second-round runoff, an exit poll from the state controlled All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) showed.
An different exit poll, from the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), showed Putin won 59.3 per cent of the vote. Official results from most polling stations will be published on Monday.