Former TV journalist Yekaterina Duntsova applied to the electoral commission to be registered as a candidate just three days earlier.

Vladimir Putin Vs Yekaterina Duntsova: Amid the ongoing armed conflict with Ukraine, Russia will be holding the Presidential Elections tentatively on 15-17 March 2024, the eighth presidential election in the history of the country’s politics.

Vladimir Putin is the current President of Russia, a post he acquired in 2012, and has held continuous positions as the president or the prime minister since 1999 making him the longest-serving Russian or Soviet leader since Joseph Stalin.

Putin is a heavily experienced politician and a seasoned head of state who has been in the scheme of things since the Cold War era right up to the present-day Russia-Ukraine War.

In a scenario where the former KGB foreign intelligence officer for 16 years seems to be invincible and a one-man show, former TV journalist Yekaterina Duntsova presented her candidature for the elections and applied to the electoral commission to be registered as a candidate just three days earlier.

Now, Yekaterina Duntsova has been barred from running against Vladimir Putin. Duntsova’s campaign said that she has been stopped from contesting the polls because of “mistakes” in her application to register as a candidate. Russia’s election commission cited “mistakes in documents” submitted by Yekaterina Duntsova.

Who Is Yekaterina Duntsova?

Yekaterina Duntsova, 40, is a single mother of three with no prior experience in Russia’s federal-level politics. On her lack of experience, she told The Moscow Times, “I am different in that I am more immersed in local political discourse, in issues of local governance. It is important for me that I live like most people in this country. All of their worries, their problems are near and dear to me.”

She is said to pitch for ending the war in Ukraine and freeing political prisoners.

Duntsova’s team had already feared that her candidature would ruffle feathers. She earlier said, “We understand full well what could happen. If we are not able to gather on the first try, we will try for the second time, and so on.”

“I already have several people who told me they are ready to help with establishing headquarters in various cities. One of the first ones were the people from Krasnoyarsk, the city where I was born, and I am particularly happy about that,” she said on her campaign.

“Why did I make this decision? I love our country, I want Russia to be a thriving democratic and peaceful state. But right now our country is moving in a completely different direction. I understand that many right now want to wait it out but we need to act. Let’s at least try! Let’s try to win this ‘election’!”, said Yekaterina Duntsova.

Russian news channel showed a meeting of the central electoral commission at which its members voted unanimously not to allow Yekaterina Duntsova’s candidacy to go ahead, Reuters reported.

(With agency inputs)