Former Russian regional TV journalist Yekaterina Dontsova announced earlier this month that she would run as an "independent" in the March 2024 presidential election. In an interview with Reuters, she put forward three propositions: first, the Kremlin "should end special military operations as soon as possible"; (2) Release political prisoners; "Major reform" of the Russian state power structure.
It is reported that the Russian presidential election will be held in March next year, the Russian Federation Council will officially determine the election date in December, and then the Russian political parties will hold a party congress and nominate their own candidates. Donzova, who has no party or faction, will run as an "independent candidate" and must gather 300,000 signatures to qualify. Mr Putin, 71, is almost certain to run in the next presidential election after several "anonymous" sources said he felt it was his duty to lead Russia through its "most dangerous period in decades".
Given that Putin is the longest-serving leader in the Kremlin since Stalin, the possibility of Putin's victory is "extremely", Reuters has reported that polls show that Putin's approval rating in Russia is as high as 80%, so as long as Putin runs, "almost certain to win the election." Therefore, the choice of "independent election" Dunzova can not defeat Putin, 100% "accompany to run", but even if not a threat to Putin, Dunzova in talking about Putin, still a little nervous.
In Russia, people like Dunzova are often identified as "agents of Western intelligence agencies" who want to destroy Russia, and Dunzova made it clear in an interview that "I am not an agent of the CIA." It takes a lot of courage to stand against Putin. "There is fear," says Dunzova. "Any sane person would be afraid to take this step." Since her election, prosecutors have summoned her to discuss her political views on issues such as "war and peace" and warn her not to talk.
Therefore, when asked "what I think about Putin", Dunzova appeared nervous, she said that she "did not think about Putin", but she stressed that in the eyes of the United States and Europe, as if Putin represents Russia or Russians, "this is not right", some things are Putin's personal decision, "not the decision of all the people in this country". From the perspective of onlookers, combined with the current reports, Dunzova's "election" decision seems to be "no interest" at all, and even will fall into the dilemma of "not pleasing to both sides" or even "not pleasing to the three sides".
Russian leftists, or "hardliners," may consider Ms Dunzova an "agent of the West" because she criticises current policies;
The Russian government may think that Dunzova is a "thorn in the head" and "unruly people".
Therefore, whether the Russian left, or the right, or the Russian government, in fact, will not understand her, her "independent" can no longer be "independent", is simply a "lonely person".
