Children playing with weapons – but Putin does not want to talk about war on the election campaign

This is the Russian election campaign. Children in Siberia experiment with weapons. But war was not an issue before the local elections that will be held this weekend in Russia. This was decided by Vladimir Putin (70 years old) after the coup attempt by Wagner President Prigozhin.

– War does not exist in Russian elections. This is the elephant in the room. No one dares to talk about war. “Then you will be put on trial,” says Inna Sangadzhieva, a Russian who is head of a section at the Helsinki Committee.

The photos are from the election campaign of Pavel Matvejev, a local politician from the Just Russia party in Irkutsk, Siberia. Children could carry weapons used by soldiers in Ukraine, and at the same time there was recruitment of students for the “Young Special Soldiers” program.

In just over six months, presidential elections will be held in Russia. Vladimir Putin is scheduled to be re-elected for another six years. He was first elected in 2000.

– The local elections this weekend will serve as a prelude to the presidential elections. Putin’s offer. But at the same time, it is difficult for Putin, Sangadjieva says.

– What do you mean?

– When Yevgeny Prigozhin carried out his coup attempt, we saw how a number of people praised him. He began to touch on the problems of war, and something finally began to happen. This is uncomfortable for Putin, who wants to normalize the situation for most people. Many citizens find it unfair that their spouses and children have to fight a war that does not exist. While Putin’s elites do not send their children to the “special operation.”

The English-language Moscow Times explains it this way:

The authorities view these elections as an exercise before the presidential elections next year.

A source close to the presidential administration told the newspaper:

The political department in the presidential administration works non-stop to ensure that the results are in the Kremlin’s favor as much as possible. There is no arrogance or lightness. The source adds that in wartime, you have to be on guard – thus supporting Sangadjieva’s point.

A source told the Moscow Times that candidates from Putin’s United Russia party were initially instructed to talk about the “heroic efforts of Russian soldiers” in the election campaign, but the strategy was then changed to downplay the war.

It is also said – as Sangadjieva also expressed – that this came after the coup attempt by Yevgeny Prigozhin in June. In August, he lost his life in a plane crash.

– There is a complete ban on talking about war, and you cannot even use the word “war.” “It only confirms that it is a country completely without politics, where elections have the sole function of making the population apathetic and quiet,” Christian Gerner, professor emeritus and Russia expert at Lund University, tells VG.

– It is a nuclear power without a policy, and it is waging a war without a strategy. Putin did not explain how they would end the war they are waging. With the resulting human suffering, says Gerner.

Inna Sangadzhieva describes the elections as follows:

– Of course, there are no free and fair elections. Everything is predetermined. If people don’t vote correctly, at least the votes will be counted “correctly.” The opposition is largely in prison.

-But because of the war, everything is not going as smoothly as before. There are alternatives to Putin’s party, even if these parties all support Putin.

– like?

– Like the communists. Or Jabloco. But in the end, it is not only the parties that compete in the elections, but rather it is the opportunity for others to protest what is happening.

Then Sandgadzhieva adds:

– In the regions it is still possible to protest against the regime. you can speak. Shows dissatisfaction in society. For local politicians, however, it is a private matter. They have to pretend that war does not exist. War is the elephant in the room that society and the system pretend does not exist.

The regions annexed by Ukraine are among the areas where Russian local elections will be held at the end of this week. Naturally, this arouses strong feelings in Kiev.

Sangadjiva says that elections are being held in 26 regions, including the occupied regions of Ukraine.

– Why are elections held in areas where the Russians have only partial control and which are part of Ukraine?

One reason may be that Putin wants to end this war, but at the same time he must present some form of victory before next year’s presidential elections. He is now exploiting the local elections to legitimize Russian representation there in the annexed areas. By having the local Duma and governors of these regions, Putin will use this as a bargaining chip. At least we can speculate that it is about that.

According to the Ukrainian Resistance Movement, election observers are being sent from Russia to Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine. Of course, there are no observers from countries that do not support Russia in the war.

– Meanwhile, Gregorig Melkonjantes was arrested. Haar is the leader of Golos, a Russian organization that previously controlled elections. Many observers are threatened, persecuted and arrested. Sangadjieva says the FSB is very active in controlling them.

– What do you think about the elections in the occupied territories?

– It’s just terrible theater. Ukrainians are forced to accept Russian passports. The Russian authorities, not only in the occupied territories, are trying to create artificial crowds to push people to vote correctly. It’s certainly not a free choice, of course.

– A farce?

– Yes, this is it! farce!

President Vladimir Putin will use the Internet when he casts his vote for Moscow’s mayor, according to his spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Rhea.

Opposition politicians are therefore not participating in the elections – but jailed Alexei Navalny has recommended voters vote for someone other than Putin’s United Russia party.