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Putin, who has been in power as either president or prime
minister for more than two decades, has announced he will seek
another six-year term in March next year in an election he is
comfortably expected to win.
He will not run as a candidate for the ruling United Russia (UR)
party even though he has its complete support but as an
independent candidate, Andrei Turchak, a senior UR party
official, was cited as saying by RIA.
Sergei Mironov, a senior politician from the Just Russia party
who supports Putin, was also quoted by RIA as saying Putin would
run as an independent and that signatures would be gathered in
his support.
For Putin, 71, the election is a formality: with the support of
the state, the state-run media and almost no mainstream public
dissent, he is certain to win.
Supporters of Putin say he has restored order, national pride,
and some of the clout Russia lost during the chaos of the Soviet
collapse and that his war in Ukraine - something Putin calls a
"special military operation" - is justified.
A years-long crackdown on opponents and critics bolstered by
sweeping new laws on "fake news" and "discrediting the army" has
seen critics and opponents of the war handed long jail terms or
flee abroad as the room for dissent has steadily shrunk.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
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