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Does the Kremlin Have a Problem on Its Hands?
Boris Nadezhdin has collected the signatures, but the Kremlin will not let him join the race with an ‘anti-war’ message
No opposition candidates were running for the presidency in Russia. All was quiet and safely guaranteed for Russia’s aging czar. Even the math the Kremlin wanted for Vlad the Horrible’s final “run” for the presidency was agreed upon: 79 percent voter turnout, of which 80 percent of that vote needed to go to Putin.
Uncomplicated and straightforward, there was nothing to worry about, thanks to Russia’s oppressive authoritarian system. Most of the country’s actual opposition was either rotting in prison; declared foreign agents and awaiting the Stalin-esque night-time raids to cart them away to prison; or, protesting harmlessly residing in other countries. And then someone in the Kremlin got the bright idea to trot out a “controlled” liberal candidate. The purpose of this, as I wrote in a recent article, was to show overwhelming support for Putin and his “new Russia.”
In October 2023, the Russian newspaper Vedomosti reported that the Kremlin was planning to add some variety to the presidential ballot by allowing a “liberal” candidate to run, naming former Ekho Moskvy editor-in-chief Alexey Venediktov as one possibility…
