Sixteen candidates have applied to run for next year's Russia, which is expected to easily land Vladimir Putin for a fifth term, he said Wednesday. Moscow has excluded opposition figures from elections and political life for years, a crackdown that intensified after the Kremlin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine in 2022.
The official news agency RIA Novosti quoted the head of the ** election committee Ella Pamfilova as saying: "So far, we have received applications from 16** candidates for the elections. In a meeting with veterans this month, Putin confirmed that he will participate in the elections scheduled to take place in three days starting March 15 next year.
The CEC said it would also hold votes in four Ukrainian regions partially occupied by Russian forces, as well as on the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed from Kyiv in 2014. The pro-Kremlin Russian Liberal Democratic Party this week nominated Leonid Slutsky, Ukraine's former negotiator on the conflict. He said his candidacy would not "take away Putin's votes."
Election rules state that candidates have until Dec. 27 to submit their applications to participate in the March ballot, after which they will be required to collect signatures from thousands of supporters to secure a spot on the ballot.
Igor Girkin, a hard-line nationalist turned Kremlin critic who is being detained pending trial on extremist charges, has expressed a desire to challenge Putin.
Jailed opposition figure Alexei N**Alny was barred from running in the 2018 elections over an old fraud charge that his allies said was politically motivated.