Vladimir Putin won the presidential election.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin ( ˈ ; born 7 October 1952 ) is the current President of the Russian Federation , holding the office since 7 May 2012 . Putin won the subsequent 2000 Presidential election by a 53 % to 30 % margin , thus avoiding a runoff with his Communist Party of the Russian Federation opponent , Gennady Zyuganov . In September 2011 , after presidential terms were extended from four to six years , Putin announced he would seek a third term as president . He won the March 2012 presidential election with 64 % of the vote , a result which aligned with pre-election polling .