Russian President Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir PutinThinkstock

Russian President Vladimir Putin won reelection Sunday, gaining a fourth term in office, early results suggest.

According the TASS media outlet, the Russian president, who won in 2000 and 2004 before serving as Prime Minister from 2008 to 2012, only to be reelected as president in 2012, is projected to win 72% of the vote, according to exit polls. Other agencies have projected Putin with 74% of the vote.

With some 22% of the vote counted, it appears that Putin will avoid a run-off vote with the runner-up, having secured more than half of the votes.

The 65-year-old ran as part of the All-Russia People’s Front movement, and was challenged by Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin, who made his first-ever presidential bid this year. Exit polls show Grundinin with some 15% of the vote.

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, head of the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, is projected to come in third place, with approximately 7%.

Five other candidates competed in the presidential election, and are expected to win 2% or less each.

If the exit polls are accurate, this election marks Putin’s strongest showing yet, slightly edging out the 71.9% he won in his 2004 reelection campaign.

While opponents have claimed of widespread voting fraud and stuffed ballots, the allegations are unlikely to have much affect on the election outcome, or Putin's fourth term in office.

The election grants Putin another six years in office – which could be his last unless the Russian constitution is amended, permitting him to run again in 2024.