Current President Vladimir Putin is expected to win easily.

For years, Russian authorities have kept opposition candidates out of politics and participating in elections.

This trend has strengthened since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Watch the video: Putin expelled from the “double gang”

16 registered candidates

So far, we have received papers from 16 candidates who want to participate in the elections, Ella Pamfilova, head of the Election Commission, said on Wednesday, according to the state channel RIA Novosti.

There was no word on whether Putin had also filled out an application to silence him.

During a meeting with veterans earlier this month, Putin confirmed that he would seek a fifth term. The elections will be held over three days, starting from March 15 of next year.

Pamfilova said elections are also being held in the four Ukrainian regions partially occupied by Russian forces in eastern and southern Ukraine. Elections are also being held in Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.

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A kind of opposition

The pro-Kremlin Russian Liberal Democratic Party this week nominated Leonid Slutsky, a former official who negotiated the Ukrainian conflict before the invasion.

Upon nomination, Slutsky said that his candidacy would steal votes from Putin.

Igor Girkin, a former nationalist turned Putin critic, said he would challenge the president. Gerken is currently detained awaiting trial on extremism charges.

Opposition figure Alexei Navalny was rejected from running in the 2018 elections. He has been imprisoned for a long time and has not been seen for a long time.