The presidential candidates refrained from criticizing Putin in televised debates

Candidates for the presidency of Russia at the first televised debates on the air of the federal channel “Russia 1” refrained from criticizing their main competitor, Vladimir Putin, although the presenter asked them to evaluate the projects and ideas of the current head of state in the field of education and science.

As noted by “Agentstvo” publication, only two candidates out of four took part in the debate: Nikolay Kharitonov from the CPRF party and Vladyslav Davankov from the “New People” party. Leonid Slutsky from the LDPR was aired by his representative, State Duma deputy Nikita Berezyn, and Vladimir Putin traditionally refused to participate in the debate: the Kremlin explained this by the fact that Russians can already see his statements “on a daily basis”.

As a result, as “Agentstvo” reports, Putin’s competitors actually avoided answering questions that at least somehow related to the activities of the head of state.

Earlier, the Supreme Court of Russia recognized as legal the refusal of the Central Election Commission to register politician Boris Nadezhdin as a candidate for the presidency of Russia. He was the only one of the possible candidates who spoke out against Putin’s actions – in particular, against the continuation of the war with Ukraine.

• Voting in the presidential elections of Russia will take place from March 15 to 17, 2024. Independent observers and experts already assess the elections as non-free and non-competitive.