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SOCHI, Russia — The Kremlin favorite Anatoly Pakhomov won an overwhelming victory in Sunday’s mayoral election in the Russian city that will host the 2014 Winter Olympics, the top election official said.
An opposition candidate called the vote a fraud and vowed to challenge the result.
The election was a must- win for Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, whose reputation is riding on a successful Olympics in a city that must build most of the facilities from scratch amid financial crisis. Putin personally backed the Sochi bid and made the city a sort of second capital during his eight-year presidency.
