Russian citizens voting in Yerevan over the weekend in the Russian presidential election gave the nod to Putin challenger Vladislav Davankov, 40, a Russian State Duma deputy from the New People party.

According to Russia’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC), Davanko beat Putin by 58.1% to 32.9%

There were five polling stations in Armenia opened to those eligible to vote in the election. Russians living in Georgia also travelled to Armenia to cast their votes since there were no Russian polling stations in Tbilisi.

Davanko is one of the three candidates that appeared on the Russian presidential ballot. One was Nikolai Kharitonov, 75, a senior member of the Communist Party who has been a Russian State Duma deputy since 1993. The other was ultranationalist Leonid Slutsky, 56, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR).

Putin won in Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city, receiving 58.1% of the votes. Davanko came in second with 30.6%, Slutsky third (2.42%), and Kharitonov fourth (2.2%). The Russian 102nd Military Base is in Gyumri.

None of the challengers openly criticized Putin in the election campaign, nor did they call for an end of the fighting in Ukraine.

Putin officially won a fifth term as Russia’s president with 87.3% of the votes and will serve until at least 2030.

Photo: Voters outside Russian Embassy in Yerevan (Narek Aleksanyan/Hetq)