Yekaterina Doentsova, a former television journalist from Russia, has been banned from running in the Russian presidential elections due to take place in March next year. Her campaign team reported this on Saturday, international news agencies wrote. According to the Central Election Commission, she had not collected enough signatures for her candidacy.
Doentsova announced her candidacy earlier this week. Immediately afterwards she was critical of Putin’s presidency and the war in Ukraine. “The country is eager for change: an end to fighting, democratic reforms, the release of political prisoners,” she wrote on her website. “Of course I have no illusions about these ‘elections’ and just like any normal person, I am afraid. But I hope that Russia can be reformed democratically.”
Not a serious challenger
These statements make the 40-year-old Doentsova a striking candidate, but she has never been a serious challenger. According to all expectations, current President Vladimir Putin will walk away with a convincing win. The Kremlin even states, based on opinion polls, that 80 percent of Russians support Putin.
Critics are convinced that the elections in Russia, which will take place between March 15 and 17, will not be fair. Doentsova’s exclusion only provides further evidence for that theory.
Doentsova comes from the city of Rzhev, which is located about 200 kilometers northwest of Moscow. There she worked as a television reporter for a number of years, until she exchanged her journalistic career for municipal politics. This distinguishes her from other opposition candidates, who usually come from Moscow and enjoy more fame.