Opponents in “Election” 2024
Ultranationalist Girkin wants to challenge Putin
November 18, 2023, 10:02 p.m
Listen to article
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
Nobody doubts that Vladimir Putin will continue to lead Russia after the next “elections”. Nevertheless, there is a challenger for the coming “elections”: the imprisoned ex-KGB officer Igor Girkin announces his ambitions.
The former intelligence officer and ultranationalist Igor Girkin, who is imprisoned in Russia and known under the pseudonym Igor Strelkov, has announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election. His candidacy is an opportunity for national forces to “unite in the face of external and internal dangers,” a confidant of Girkins read out his letter, as shown in a video on the independent Internet portal Sota. Girkin is considered a supporter of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, but at the same time a sharp critic of President Vladimir Putin.
The former officer of the domestic intelligence service FSB led the uprising of pro-Russian separatists in the Ukrainian Donbass region in 2014. He was convicted of murder in the Netherlands for his role in the shooting down of a passenger plane over eastern Ukraine. In Russia, Girkin lived unmolested for a long time and was even able to criticize his own military leadership as incompetent, long after liberal politicians had been arrested for allegedly discrediting the Russian army.
However, in the summer, shortly after the short-lived uprising of mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, Girkin was arrested for alleged calls for terrorist actions and has been in custody ever since. Observers believe that Girkin, who has accused Putin of weakness, indecisiveness and cowardly mediocrity, has increasingly damaged the Kremlin leader’s image among his nationalist electorate. Girkin’s admission to the election is considered unlikely.
According to insiders, Putin will run again in the presidential election in March next year. The 71-year-old has not yet explained himself. If he runs for office, victory is certain: independent observers regularly report violations such as fraud and exerting pressure on the electorate. In the coming elections, it is planned that Putin will achieve a “record result”: voter turnout should be over 70 percent, and Putin himself should receive more than 80 percent of the votes.