Dontsova Disqualified by Russian Election Commission; Anti-War Journalist Who Wanted to Compete with Putin

Ekaterina Dontsova, a former Russian television journalist, who intended to compete with Vladimir Putin in the upcoming presidential election in March, was disqualified on the grounds of "deficiencies in her registration application." A video released from the session of the Central Election Commission of Russia shows members unanimously voting against Dontsova's candidacy, whose slogan was to end the war in Ukraine and free political prisoners. Critics of Putin view the disqualification of this journalist as evidence that no one with opposing views to Putin will be allowed to participate in the presidential election, deeming the candidate review process as "fake" and asserting it leads to only one outcome. The Kremlin claims that Putin "has real support from society, with his popularity around 80% in polls," and thus he will win the election. Ella Pamfilova, head of the Election Commission, expressed sympathy for Dontsova after her disqualification, stating, "Every experience is, after all, an experience." Images released on a Telegram channel representing Dontsova show documents highlighting sections marked for "lack of signature" by the commission. The 40-year-old Dontsova told reporters that her team filled out the candidacy application hurriedly and had difficulty finding a lawyer willing to take responsibility for validating the documents. She mentioned contacting Grigory Yavlinsky, a liberal politician, about the possibility of submitting a new application to run as a representative of his Yabloko party. Yavlinsky stated in an interview on a YouTube channel that the Yabloko party does not support her because they do not know her. When Ms. Dontsova announced her intention to compete with Putin, political analysts labeled her as crazy, brave, or part of the Kremlin's plan to create an appearance of competition. In November, she told Reuters, "Any sane person taking this step is afraid, but fear should not win." Abbas Gallyamov, who previously wrote Kremlin speeches and is now considered a "foreign agent" by officials, stated that Putin does not want to face a scenario similar to that of Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus, managed to win in 1399 with the help of what the opposition and Western governments call "widespread fraud" in the elections, sidelining his rival. If Putin wins, he will begin a new six-year term, and if he completes that term, he will surpass even Stalin in terms of the duration of his rule, becoming the longest-serving leader of Russia since the 18th century. Putin's most famous rival, Alexei Navalny, is currently serving a sentence of over 30 years in prison, and his supporters claim they do not even know his whereabouts, with his lawyers last gaining access to him on 15 Azar. Kira Yarmysh, spokesperson for Alexei Navalny, stated that staff at the IK-6 facility in Melekhovo, 235 kilometers east of Moscow, where he was imprisoned, told his lawyer that he is no longer in that prison. Mr. Navalny has disappeared coinciding with the start of the presidential election campaign in Russia. Leonid Volkov, an assistant to Alexei Navalny on the "X" network, wrote that his relocation at this time was not coincidental and was orchestrated by the Kremlin. Reports indicate that the Communist Party of Russia, whose candidates have consistently ranked second in every election since 1379, is preparing to nominate Nikolai Kharitonov, 75, who previously participated in the 1383 elections and received 14% of the votes against Putin's 71%.