Putin
Russian Prez Vladimir Putin to run for his fifth term next year
Moscow/IBNS: Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday announced that he will stand again for a fifth term in office.
This came at an awards ceremony for participants in the full-scale war he launched against Ukraine in 2022, BBC reported.
Russia's upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, announced the elections on Thursday. Following this, the country's electoral commission said they would be held over three days, from March 15–17, reported BBC.
The details of Putin’s election campaign are pending, so the information will be released later, said Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Russian state-owned news agency TASS, reported.
"Putin has declared his intention to run [in the election]. Everything else is still nuances which have to be defined. As the decisions are made by Putin, we will keep you informed," the Kremlin spokesman said.
According to BBC report, the re-election of Putin, 71, is seen as inevitable, with opposition almost nonexistent as most genuine opponents are either dead, behind bars, or in exile, and Russian media is completely under his control.
Russia's constitution was amended in 2020, increasing the presidential term from four to six years and giving Putin a clean slate to run again next year by cancelling out his previous terms.
Putin took office as president in 2000 and retook the position in 2012, following a term as prime minister.
Following the announcement, the Kremlin's official spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that an "astonishing" number of people wanted Putin to continue as leader, according to the report.
Following a ceremony in the Kremlin to present the Hero of Russia medal to veterans of the conflict in Ukraine, Putin addressed an unofficial gathering.
His remarks came in response to a request from Lt. Col. Artyom Zhoga, the commander of a former pro-Russian separatist group in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine.
"Now is the time when one needs to take decisions. I will be running for the post of president of the Russian Federation," reported BBC, citing Putin's remarks on Russian TV.
Former Russian President late Boris Yeltsin handed the presidency to Putin at the very end of 1999 due to his illness.
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