Presidential office
Putin is launching another candidacy
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been waging war against Ukraine for almost 22 months. photo
© Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool AP/AP
The Kremlin leader will run again in the upcoming presidential election. Is his re-election already a given?
Around three months before the planned presidential election, the Kremlin chief will be running again in Russia Vladimir Putin prepared. A so-called voter initiative, which included selected politicians as well as athletes and artists loyal to the Kremlin, unanimously nominated Putin as a candidate for the vote on March 17, 2024, as Russian state media reported. In order to officially complete the nomination, the next step is to collect citizens’ signatures – but in view of allegations of manipulation and the opposition being almost eliminated, this is only considered a mere formality in Russia.
About a week ago, Putin, who has been waging war against neighboring Ukraine for almost 22 months, announced, as expected, that he would run again in the upcoming presidential election. It would be the fifth term in office for the now 71-year-old Kremlin leader, who officially wants to run as an independent candidate, but is in fact supported by the Kremlin party United Russia. In order to be able to run again, Putin had the Russian constitution changed in 2020.
Since the Kremlin is unlikely to allow any serious competitors and many critics have either fled abroad or are in prison, Putin’s re-election is considered a given. Experts complain that there can no longer be any question of fair elections in Russia.
In addition, after more than a year and a half of war, many Russians are caught by Putin’s rhetoric about the West as the alleged enemy of Russia, against which he is protecting them. Nevertheless, the team of the imprisoned and prominent Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny has launched a campaign calling on Russians to vote for any candidate next March – just not for Putin.