Russian leader Vladimir Putin has decided to participate in the March 2024 presidential elections, news agencies reported on Friday. This allowed the Kremlin leader to extend his decades-long hold on power.
Putin informed Lt. Col. Artyom Zhoga, a Russian military officer, of his decision to participate in the upcoming elections after an awards ceremony for army personnel in the Kremlin, state news agencies reported.
“We are very happy that the president listened to our request to nominate him. All of Russia supports him,” Zhoga told state news agency RIA Novosti.
However, Putin has not yet formally announced that he will take part in the elections from March 15 to 17 next year.
“Our president has never avoided responsible decisions and will not do so,” said Valentina Matvienko, speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament.
“And today it reaffirmed this. It confirmed it at the moment of a historic choice and a historic challenge,” he added.
Putin will not face any major opponents and will likely try to obtain the broadest possible mandate to hide internal disagreement over the conflict in Ukraine, analysts said.
If he wins, he will hold the position of head of state for another six years, until 2030, according to the Russian agency TASS.
Source: DN
