Russian Presidential Candidates and Putin's Re-election Prospects

A report by Wissam Nasrallah, English adaptation by Nadine Sassine 

Residents of the Donetsk region are voting for the first time in the Russian presidential elections after it was annexed along with Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson by Moscow in September 2022 following the war in Ukraine. 

The novelty of this election isn't just its occurrence in these regions but also its extension over three days and the inclusion of electronic voting covering 28 areas, including the Crimean Peninsula.

The familiar aspect is Vladimir Putin's candidacy for another presidential term, competing against three other candidates. 

Who are they?

1- Vladimir Putin: Running for a fifth term due to a constitutional amendment following a 2020 referendum that allowed him to run for two additional terms. His challengers include:

2- Nikolai Kharitonov: A candidate from the Communist Party. While critical of some of Putin's domestic policies, he supported the war in Ukraine.

3—Leonid Slutsky: Leader of the Liberal Democratic Party. In 2014, Western sanctions were imposed on him for supporting the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. Despite his support for the war, he participated in peace talks with Ukraine, and his campaign slogan today is "Final and Swift Victory over Ukraine."

4—Vladislav Davankov: A candidate from the New People's Party, he has been a Deputy Chairman of the State Duma since 2021 and advocates normalizing relations between Russia and the West, showing less hostility towards Ukraine.

The three candidates do not pose any real threat to Putin, as they generally align with the governing regime's policies. As for the genuine opposition and competitors to the president, the most prominent is Alexei Navalny, who was sentenced to years in prison on extremism charges, with his death announced in his cell in February 2024.

Boris Nadezhdin, the liberal politician who focused his campaign on ending the war in Ukraine, initially refused to run for elections.

Based on all that has been presented, Putin will enter the elections on Friday alongside his competitors and emerge from them on Sunday, paving his way back to the Kremlin once again.