Deadly Moscow Attack Shatters Putin's Security Promise to Russian People
President Putin claimed victory in a confident election just days before a deadly terror attack, challenging his image as a strong leader with focus on national security. [ more ]
Putin has maintained power in Russia through multiple controversial electoral wins, with the support of a cult of personality and control tactics like facial recognition and phone data tracking.
Protests in 2011 against Putin's perceived rigged elections led to the emergence of Alexey Navalny as his greatest rival, who ran an anticorruption campaign and was eventually mysteriously imprisoned and died. [ more ]
Russia says Alexei Navalny has died in prison: What happened to Putin's fiercest foe?
Alexei Navalny, a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has died in prison at the age of 47.
Navalny had been serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism and had recently been moved to a high-security penal colony in the Arctic Circle. [ more ]
A Russian anti-war politician is blocked from running against Putin
Antiwar politician Boris Nadezhdin has been rejected as a candidate in Russia's upcoming presidential election, signaling the Kremlin's intolerance for public opposition to the invasion of Ukraine.
This rejection clears the path for President Vladimir Putin to win a fifth term in power, as he faces limited opposition from pro-Kremlin candidates.
Nadezhdin's campaign collected over 9,000 invalid signatures, disqualifying him from the election. [ more ]