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Boris Johnson has accused Putin of winning a rigged election as he ramps up tensions in the wake of the Salisbury attack.

The foreign secretary said Mr Putin was declared the winner on Monday in an election that 'resembled a coronation'.

Mr Putin, who has ruled the country as either president or prime minister since 1999, got more than 76% of the vote.

The main opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, was barred from the race.

In an article in the Telegraph Mr Johnson wrote: "Mr Putin’s leading opponent had obviously been banned from standing and an abundance of CCTV footage appeared to show election officials nonchalantly stuffing ballot boxes."

The foreign secretary confirmed ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia have been "in a coma" since they were attacked with the rare Novichok nerve agent more than two weeks ago.

Mr Johnson warned that "Mr Putin is taking his country in a dangerous direction.

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"Throughout his rule he has eroded the liberties of the Russian people, tightened the screws of state repression and hunted down supposed foes," he said.

Election watchdogs issued a scathing verdict last night on Putin's latest landslide.

(Image: Getty)

Following the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights' judgement, a Foreign Office spokesman said: ““The report makes clear that restrictions on fundamental freedoms, in particular freedom of expression and assembly, including the detention of activists, resulted in a lack of genuine competition in the election.

"The Russian Central Election Commission also placed restrictions on candidate registration, and President Putin benefited from dominating coverage in the state media.”

Mr Johnson sniped: "Plenty of nations hold elections where no one knows the result in advance."

It comes after Mr Johnson accused the Kremlin of trying to conceal "the needle of truth in a haystack of lies" over the Salisbury spy poisoning.

Today EU Foreign Affairs Council declared its "unqualified solidarity" for the UK over the incident and Nato's general secretary Jens Stoltenberg

In a wide-ranging piece on the state of Russia, Mr Johnson hinted there was some hope for those who believed in democracy putting his faith in the general population in Putin rather than the politicians.

He suggested that despite the dangers of the Russian president's rule, Mr Johnson said that Putin's hardline stance would only lead the Russian people to hanker after the freedoms they see in the West.

He said: "They [the Russian people] will see how free societies in Europe, America and elsewhere thrive and prosper precisely because people are able to live as they choose, provided they do no harm."

They will understand how an independent media exposes the failings or evasions of democratic governments. And they will wonder why Russia cannot have the same?