Putin is largely expected to win re-election to a second six-year term.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced his intention to seek for re-election on March 17, giving him a fifth term in office.
Putin, 71, made his choice following a Kremlin award ceremony, where war veterans and others reportedly begged him to run.
With a solid grip on power, Putin is generally anticipated to win another six-year term, however a revision in the country’s constitution will allow him to run again in 2030, perhaps extending his reign to 2036. In the 2018 election, he received 76% of the vote.
“I won’t hide it from you — I’ve had various thoughts about it over time, but now, you’re right, it’s necessary to make a decision,” Putin said in a video posted by the Kremlin following the event.
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“I will run for president of the Russian Federation.”
Analysts believe the low-key announcement was made to preserve Putin’s modesty and his perceived concentration on doing his job rather than boisterous campaigning.
In Russia, the former intelligence officer is still very popular. With the start of the conflict against Ukraine, his popularity skyrocketed, and he now has an approval rating of 82%, according to Statista, a global data platform. A failed mutiny by mercenary head Yevgeny Prigozhin last summer did not hurt his approval numbers either.
That support could be heartfelt, or it could indicate surrender to a leader whose crackdown on any dissent has made even mild criticism dangerous.
The three-day voting period was initially utilized during the COVID-19 epidemic, with officials claiming that it is more convenient for voters.
Extensions to the national voting window have been condemned as a threat to election integrity, mandating the storage of votes overnight and complicating poll watchers’ jobs.
Voting will also be available in four Ukrainian territories that have been partially and unlawfully occupied by Russia.
It is unclear who will run against Putin in the election, though some have already indicated that they will do so.
Igor Girkin, who led pro-Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine in 2014, has recently stated his desire to take on Putin. Girkin is an outspoken pro-war blogger who has harshly criticized Russia’s military tactics in Ukraine. He is currently imprisoned awaiting trial on charges of extremism, which he denies.
Former lawmaker Boris Nadezhdin, who currently serves on a municipal council in the Moscow region, and Yekaterina Duntsova, a journalist and lawyer from the Tver region north of Moscow, have also stated their intentions to run.
Last week, imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny urged his supporters to vote for anyone other than Putin.
“Putin views this election as a referendum on approval of his actions,” Navalny stated in an online post.
“A referendum on war approval.” Let us disrupt his preparations and make it so that no one is interested in the manipulated outcome on March 17, but that everyone in Russia saw and understood: the will of the majority is that Putin must depart.”
Putin has been president or prime minister continuously since 1999. He has been president since 2012, after previously serving as president from 2000 to 2008.
