Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, has announced his intention to run for president in 2024.
Putin declared on Friday that he will try to keep his position of power. He is confident that he will be elected as the fifth president of Russia, which will enable him to continue to lead Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.
According to Al Jazeera, the 71-year-old will continue to govern Russia for more than 24 years if elected, albeit he will first serve as prime minister for 8 years. He has now ruled Russia for the longest period of time since Josef Stalin.
The decision is hardly shocking, given the president’s patriotic popularity has increased as a result of Russia’s military incursion in Ukraine.
According to state-run news outlets, Putin revealed his intention during an awards event where he gave war veterans Russia’s highest military decoration.
Aljazeera also mentioned that one recipient of the Hero of Russia gold star, a lieutenant colonel named Artyom Zhoga, had asked the president to run again.
“He will run,” the soldier told reporters afterwards.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, had earlier stated that many individuals had pushed Putin to run.
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The upper body of the Russian Federation Council decided on Thursday to hold the vote on March 17.
Because of allegations that Putin has turned Russia into a corrupt dictatorship, opposition lawmakers have framed the election as a threat to democracy.
Prominent opposition figures like Ilya Yashin and Alexei Navalny have also been imprisoned in recent years.
Some who oppose the Kremlin chief have expressed optimism that the war in Ukraine, the Western sanctions it has sparked, and Yevgeny Prigozhin’s attempted rebellion in June will all play a role in the elections to come.
Independent surveys, however, indicate that support for Putin is still high, with approval ratings exceeding 80%
Putin, according to his supporters, has brought back some of the authority and order that Russia lost during the chaos of the Soviet collapse in the 1990s.
Boris Yeltsin gave Putin the presidency on the final day of 1999, and he has held the office longer than any other Russian leader since Stalin—even surpassing the 18-year reign of Leonid Brezhnev.
