Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the West against sending troops to Ukraine, saying it could lead to World War III. Putin made the remarks earlier today after he won an unprecedented fifth term in office. Russian election officials say Putin won 87% of the vote in this weekend’s election, where opposition antiwar candidates were barred from running. Putin spoke at a victory rally on Sunday.

President Vladimir Putin: “No matter who wants to frighten us, no matter how they want to suppress us–our will, consciousness… As I have already said, no one has ever succeeded in anything like this in history, it has not worked now and will not work in the future. Never!”

The election came just weeks after Putin’s most prominent critic, Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic prison. Navalny’s wife Yulia urged supporters to gather outside polling stations on Sunday at noon to protest Putin. Yulia Navalnaya spoke after voting at the Russian Embassy in Berlin.

Yulia Navalnaya: “You are probably wondering what I wrote on the ballot papers, who I voted for. Of course, I wrote Navalny’s surname, because it just can’t be so that a month before the election and already during the presidential campaign, Putin’s main opponent, already imprisoned, was murdered.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the Russian election, which was held in parts of occupied Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky: “There is not a single bit of legitimacy in this simulation of an election, and there cannot be. This actor should be on trial in The Hague. That’s what we have to ensure together with everyone in the world that values life and decency.”

Zelensky’s comment on Sunday came two days after a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Odesa killed at least 21 people and injured 73.