Putin may announce his participation in the VDNKh elections in November

Vladimir Putin’s election campaign for the fifth presidential term may run under the slogans of “traditional values” and Russia as a “separate civilization”, Putin may announce his candidacy in early November, and the regions have already started preparing lists of his confidants. “Kommersant” and RBC write about this on Tuesday, citing sources in the presidential administration.

On November 4, the exhibition “Russia” opens at the VDNKh in Moscow, at which, according to the plan of the organizers, the “achievements” of all regions of Russia, as well as the occupied territories, will be presented. As “Kommersant” writes, it is possible that it is at this exhibition that Putin will announce his candidacy for the presidency. Earlier, the “Verstka” publication wrote about the same thing. Sources emphasize that the final decision has not yet been made. Earlier, Putin said that he would speak about his plans only after the official election, which would happen in mid-December.

RBC writes that the Kremlin has already started the preliminary formation of the list of proxies of the candidate for power, which is compiled by regional authorities at the request of the administration. Trusted persons must be well known and support the war against Ukraine.

“Kommersant” sources also claim that the “ideological framework” of the campaign will be the theme of Russia as a “separate civilization” based on “traditional values”, especially family values. Even the term “family of families” sounds. “Enemies” stand against Russia, but the consolidation of Russian society will not allow them to succeed – with such theses, it is said, Putin will speak. At the same time, the actual topic of the war in Ukraine will not be in the foreground.

Amendments to the Constitution adopted in 2020 allow Putin, who has ruled the country since 2000, to run for two more six-year terms. So far, he has not directly announced that he will be re-elected, but practically none of the interlocutors of the mass media in power circles doubt this.

Representatives of the Russian opposition, many of whom are in exile, are also discussing a possible election strategy. Garry Kasparov and his supporters from the Forum of Free Russia are calling for a boycott of the elections, calling them illegitimate. Maksym Kats called on supporters of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Alexei Navalny to develop a common strategy. FBK announced that they will develop a strategy themselves after it becomes known who is running.