Russia election: Ekaterina Duntsova to challenge Vladimir Putin in 2024

Ekaterina Duntsova, a 40-year-old single mother and local politician, has made daring comments against the status quo in Russia and wants to challenge Putin as commander-in-chief despite the risks.

“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,” she said in her announcement.

“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.

“I am not scared because, most importantly, my family and loved ones are supporting me. They are ready, so I am ready too.”

She claims Russia has been “moving in the wrong direction for ten years, towards self destruction”, and says she is speaking for the millions of ordinary Russians who are copping the brunt of the international backlash to Putin’s war in Ukraine.

She also boldly criticised the number of political prisoners in Russia and called for more freedom of speech in the public square.

“Every day the life of ordinary Russians becomes more and more difficult. Citizens cannot freely express their opinions if they do not coincide with the position of the authorities; the number of political prisoners is growing, hundreds of thousands of people have been driven out of the country,” Ms Duntsova said.

“Local self-government has been virtually destroyed, and in a huge state everything is decided by one person. ‘Military operations’ on the territory of neighbouring states lead to inevitable isolation and degradation. The last allies remain Iran, North Korea and Eritrea, but they too may soon turn away.”

Ms Duntsova’s approach appears to already have her in the Kremlin’s sights. After declaring her intention to run for Putin’s job, she was summoned to the local prosecutor’s office.

Putin is set to extend his rule until at least 2030 in a nationwide vote next March — a contest rights groups say will be neither free nor fair.

After saying she would try to stand in the 2024 vote and criticising the current regime, prosecutors in Rzhev, a town 200 kilometres west of Moscow, called Ms Duntsova in for questioning.

Officials said her post had “raised some questions, specifically about the wording of sections about war and peace, my opinion of the current government and what is happening in our country,” Ms Duntsova told AFP in a video interview on Wednesday.

In earlier social media posts, she said issues of “war and peace” affected every Russian, and said the country was “moving away from rights and freedoms, away from love and peace, away from a beautiful future”.

Any criticism of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine is effectively illegal under sweeping censorship laws passed in the first days after Putin launched his invasion.

“We are all well aware that today any language regarding the state of the special military operation can be interpreted in any way somebody wants — in order to prosecute or in some way influence their activity,” she told AFP in the video interview, using Moscow’s approved language for its assault on Ukraine.

Next year’s election is seen as a rubber stamp procession for Putin, who has ruled Russia as either its president or prime minister since the final day of 1999.

Every major opposition figure who has tried to challenge his rule has been banned, imprisoned or exiled.

The Kremlin chief is expected to formally announce his candidacy before the end of the year.

Ms Duntsova, who was previously a journalist and municipal deputy in Rzhev, said she had no illusions about her chances.

To even stand a shot at getting on the ballot she must first collect 300,000 signatures from eligible Russian voters. As of Wednesday she had “more than 10,000”.

“I’m an idealist really. I want to believe that this is the way to go,” she said.