Vladimir Putin faces token opposition in the polls this weekend after his regime has viciously cracked down on opposition figures. He’s likely to be even more repressive in his next term.
A centralised system of government has allowed Putin to project power, but the country’s health care, schools, infrastructure and general quality of life have sharply deteriorated.
Russian President Vladimir Putin looks set to extend his leadership.
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While Putin is all but guaranteed to win, war fatigue, electoral engineering and extreme risk-aversion suggest that the Kremlin is anxious to get these elections over and done with.
A makeshift memorial in honour of Alexei Navalny at the monument to the victims of political repression in Saint Petersburg on 16 February 2024.
Olga Maltseva/AFP
A selection of our coverage of the conflict from the past fortnight.
Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, attends the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 16, 2024, the day it was announced Navalny was dead.
Kai Pfaffenbach/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
The quick rise of Yulia Navalnaya in Russian politics closely mirrors the story of other female politicians who gain prominence after their husbands or fathers are no longer able to lead.
Most of Vladimir Putin’s opponents are either dead, in jail or in exile. But it might just be ordinary people who can take over the battle for democracy in Russia.
Navalny survived poisoning only to be arrested and sentenced to more than 30 years in jail. Now he has disappeared.
People carry a body bag away from the wreckage of a crashed private jet near the Russian village of Kuzhenkinoi on Aug. 24, 2023. Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group, reportedly died in the crash along with nine other people.
(AP Photo)
The core members of the Wagner Group, who are loyal to the late Yevgeny Prigozhin, will likely seek revenge against Vladimir Putin for his death. Is the Russian leader now living on borrowed time?
Russia’s systematic manipulation of children dates back long before the war in Ukraine, to when the Soviet Union first made false promises to its large population of orphans.
Open defiance in Rostov-on-Don.
Feodor Larin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
While Russian public opinion polls show continued support for the war, there are questions about the polls’ reliability and indications that public approval of Putin is declining.