President Putin has hailed his victory in Russia's presidential elections, saying it would allow the country to become stronger. He had been the only serious candidate, and now has a fifth term in office after a landslide 87% of the vote. But there was defiance in the form of large queues at some polling stations in Russia, heeding the call of allies of the late opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, who urge people to turn out to spoil their ballots or to vote for any other candidate. Mr. Navalny died suddenly in a penal colony in Russia last month. At least 80 protesters were arrested. His widow, Yulia Navalny, cast her vote at Russia's embassy in Berlin. There were protests held and queues to vote in a number of other countries. And in London, there was a line a mile long outside the Russian embassy from Moscow. Here's our Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg.

For Vladimir Putin, six more years in the Kremlin. Russia's President is sounding more confident than ever.

Whoever might want to intimidate us, whoever might want to suppress us, our will and our conscience, They have never been able to do it, and never will.

Then, Mr. Putin's first public comments on the death of jailed opposition leader, Alexey Navalny.

You may be surprised, but a few days before Mr. Navalny died, some colleagues of mine told me there was an idea to exchange him for certain people in prison in the West. You can believe it or not, I said, I agree. Even before he'd finished talking. But what happened, happened.

We can inform you the result. Election results on Russian TV. Not a hold your breath moment. The candidate of President Vladimir Putin- The winner of A mile and a half, Vladimir Putin. What an incredible level of support and unity around the figure of Putin, he says, and a powerful signal to the West. But in this race, Vladimir Putin was, from the start, unbeatable. There were other candidates, but no serious challenger. Potential rivals here are swiftly removed from the political stage, forced into exile or in jail, and elections, tightly controlled by the Kremlin. But if they couldn't win, Mr. Putin's opponents could at least protest. And they did in many parts of Russia. Opposition figures had called on Russians to flood polling stations at midday to vote against Putin or spoil their ballots, a symbolic protest against the system. We were here. I've never seen queues like this before at a Russian polling station. Before his death in prison, Alexey Navalny had backed the protest. It took courage to come. The authorities had warned that large crowds at noon would be viewed as illegal. Little gatherings.

I was here as a member-Ivan, not his real name, told me why he'd come. It was important for me to see faces of other people who would come here today and to see that I'm not alone in my political views, and that there are a lot of Moscovites and other people who believe that Russia can be another country with another future.

For now, there'll be no change in the Kremlin. This election was never about would Vladimir Putin win or wouldn't he? Elections here are designed to ensure he wins and wins big. From the outset, for the Kremlin, this vote was about creating the impression that Mr. Putin has a mandate from his people, not only for war in Ukraine, but also for what he's doing at home, transforming Russia into an increasingly militaristic society in confrontation with the West. But across town, Muscovites continued to pay tribute to Alexei Navalny, the man who'd wanted to be Russia's President. Here, a ballot paper in place of Putin's name, Navalny's. And this message, he's the candidate we So what can we expect from a fifth Putin term? I suspect more of the same. The direction of travel for Russia is pretty clear, and that means probably more oppression at home and more confrontation with the West.