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       EU and several European leaders have blasted Putin's election victory in Russia.

       In a statement, the European Union said it regretted that Russia had not invited international observers to monitor the vote.

       Russian voters had been denied an ''impartial and independent'' assessment of the elections, it added.

       German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called the vote a ''pseudo-election'', while the Polish Foreign Ministry described them as being neither ''legal, free or fair.'.

       Vladimir Putin won a fifth term as president in a landslide election victory that had an all but certain outcome.

       Russia's number one faced no credible opposition candidates, amid a ruthless crackdown on dissent and critical voices.

       Russian election officials said Putin - who will now serve another six-year term on top of his nearly quarter-century rule - won more than 87% of the vote.

       Putin claimed Russia's democratic system was more transparent than many in the West, scorning US democracy.

       The first day of voting was marred by sporadic protests and acts of vandalism, including arson attacks on polling stations and the destruction of ballot boxes. There was no repeat of these incidents after Friday.

       At least 80 Russians were detained over the three-day vote, according to the monitoring group OVD-Info.

       With little room for protest, supporters of the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny crowded outside polling stations at 12:00 on Sunday as a form of symbolic protest.

       Putin hailed the early results as an indication of “trust” and “hope” in him, while Western countries criticised the vote.

       His victory speech focused on the war in Ukraine, as Russia's president said his main task would be securing the border from Ukrainian raids and “strengthening defence capacity and the military.”

       Questioned about rising tensions with NATO, Putin said: “I think that everything is possible in the modern world … everyone understands that this would be one step from a full-scale third world war. I don’t think that anyone is interested in that.”

       Other Western politicians have also criticised the election.

       “The polls have closed in Russia, following the illegal holding of elections on Ukrainian territory, a lack of choice for voters and no independent OSCE monitoring. This is not what free and fair elections look like,” wrote British Foreign Secretary David Cameron on X.

       Any public criticism of the president or his invasion of Ukraine has been stifled. Independent media have been crippled. Putin's fiercest political foe, Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic prison last month, and other critics are either in jail or in exile.

       Independent monitoring of the election was extremely limited, plus only token challengers that toe the Kremlin line were allowed to run against Putin.

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       According to Russia’s Central Election Commission, Putin had some 87% of the vote with about 90% of precincts counted.

       Meduza, Russia’s biggest independent news outlet, published photos of ballots it received from readers, with “killer” inscribed on one, “thief” on another and “The Hague awaits you” on yet another.

       The last refers to an arrest warrant for Putin from the International Criminal Court that accuses him of personal responsibility for abductions of children from Ukraine.

       Some people told the AP that they were happy to vote for Putin.

       Dmitry Sergienko, who cast his ballot in Moscow, said, “I am happy with everything and want everything to continue as it is now.”

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       Voting also took place in the illegally annexed regions of Ukraine.

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       The evidence of war in Ukraine - even in areas where the fighting has moved on - is visible.

       Children in schools endure a harsh reality, and face risks daily.

       Many of them carry the trauma of what they have seen with their own eyes, and are having trouble adjusting to the "new normal".

       Giorgia Orlandi, Euronews, reports from the the village of Sukachi.

       Watch the full report in the video above.

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       EU enlargement policy when it comes to the Western Balkans was the main topic of conversation at a debate organised by Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and the Bled Strategic Forum (BSF) in Athens.

       The new Montenegro government's committment to align with EU standards makes it the most likely next addition to the bloc.

       To begin accession negotiations, candidate countries must first implement reforms corresponding to chapters of the EU "acquis" - a collection of common rights and obligations that constitute the body of EU law, incorporated into the legal systems of EU Member States.

       There are currently 35 chapters in the EU acquis - Montenegro has opened 33 of these for review, but has only closed three.

       But the country's new government has fresh energy, and is committed to European integration, Minister of European Affairs, Maida Gorsevic, told Euronews.

       "In the first 100 days of the government we have shown that we had an open dialogue, not only with the political majority but also with the opposition regarding the European course," said Gorsevic. "So this is something that encourages us in this way, this is an opportunity that we take advantage of as well as the encouraging messages that we receive from Brussels, the European Commission and all our European partners."

       Despite the progress made by some Western Balkan countries, such as North Macedonia and Albania, challenges remain, including unresolved issues such as the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and the need for structural reforms.

       Kosovo's Deputy Prime Minister Besnik , charged with European integration, told Euronews his country faced more obstacles than others, which made the face to EU accession difficult.

       "We are still struggling with recognition by five EU members. and we are still in the dialogue process. But we have little control over the outcome of this process ," Bislimi said.

       While there is support for enlargement from European politicians, with initiatives such as the New Development Plan for the Western Balkans, questions remain about the direction of the process.

       "If we prolong it and prolong it indefinitely into the future, then we will end up with the same realities that we have today, that is, with the Western Balkans region outside the European Union, and I am not sure whether in the long term the EU, not only the Western Balkans, but the EU can withstand this," said Slovenia's Deputy Minister of European Affairs, Marko Stu？in.

       The European Commission has recommended the start of EU accession talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina, eight years after the Western Balkan country applied to join the bloc. The green light for accession talks is likely to come in this week's EU Summit.