Unveiling Putin's Rivals: The Contenders for Russia's 2024 Presidential Election

Written by Henrik Rothen

Dec.08 - 2023 5:38 PM CET

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Photo: Wiki Commons / Shutterstock.com
Photo: Wiki Commons / Shutterstock.com
The Contenders for Russia's 2024 Presidential Election.

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The 2024 Russian presidential election, scheduled for March 15-17, 2024, promises to be a significant event, with Vladimir Putin officially announcing his candidacy.

This announcement was widely anticipated, but only recently confirmed. The election will be the eighth presidential election in Russia, and if no candidate secures more than half of the vote in the first round, a second round will be held on April 7, 2024. The winner is set to be inaugurated on May 7, 2024.

At Dagens.com, we have delved into identifying the candidates who have declared their intention to run in the 2024 Russian presidential election.

Among the notable candidates challenging Putin are:

  1. Boris Nadezhdin - The first person backed by a registered political party to announce his candidacy, Nadezhdin is running on an anti-war platform. He is a former member of the State Duma and represents the Civic Initiative party.

  2. Ivan Otrakovsky - An independent candidate, Otrakovsky is the leader of the Army of Defenders of the Fatherland movement and a captain in the Russian Naval Infantry. He is known for his anti-vaccine stance and was nominated by the All-Russian Officers' Assembly.

  3. Ustin Chashchikhin - Another independent candidate, Chashchikhin is an author specializing in demography and also an anti-vaccine activist. He announced his intention to run for president on his social media page.

  4. Igor Girkin - Girkin, also running as an independent, is the former Minister of Defense of the Donetsk People's Republic and the founder of the Club of Angry Patriots organization. He announced his candidacy via his Telegram channel.

  5. Yekaterina Duntsova - An independent candidate, Duntsova is a journalist and former Deputy of the Rzhev city duma. She announced her intent to participate in the election via her social media page.

Other potential candidates have expressed interest or are speculated to run, including figures from United Russia, the Communist Party, the Liberal Democratic Party, A Just Russia — For Truth, Yabloko, and the Party of Social Protection.

The election is expected to be closely watched, especially considering the political climate in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Many observers do not expect the election to be free or fair, dominated by Putin, whose administration has been accused of increased political repressions.