Russian authorities announced on Monday that they have approved Vladimir Putin's candidacy for the presidential elections scheduled for next March, a vote that must be dominated by the head of state, after the opposition was largely silenced by repression.
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This organization said on Telegram: “The Russian Election Commission has registered Vladimir Putin’s candidacy for the position of president.”
The current 71-year-old president, who has been in power for nearly a quarter of a century, officially announced in December his intention to run for a new term in the elections that will be held from March 15 to 17.
The elections appear to be just a simple formality, after the Kremlin's critics have been crushed under the weight of repression, especially since the Russian attack on Ukraine nearly two years ago.
The challenger, Boris Nadezhdin, is still trying to validate his candidacy, which has generated some unexpected enthusiasm in recent weeks.
Tens of thousands of Russians gathered to sign the petition necessary to register his candidacy.
He plans to hand over 100,000 initials of support from his fellow citizens on Wednesday to the Central Electoral Commission, the government-controlled body that approves or rejects nominations.
This veteran of political life, who is not known to the general public, told AFP that he had few illusions about the election result but hoped that it would represent “the beginning of the end” of Putin’s era.
The elections will be held over three days, from March 15 to 17.
The constitutional amendment allows Vladimir Putin to remain in power until 2036.
Almost all major opponents, such as anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, have been thrown in prison or pushed into exile.
