Who are the front-runners as the race for president heats up?

By Vova

This Sunday will give us the result of the presidential elections in Russia. Although we will not know it yet, and will only officially find out the winner of the elections on April  8, the excitement is starting to build in the “Motherland”. Here are some crucial facts about the candidates:

Vladimir Putin

Perhaps the most well-known candidate, the current President is the man most likely to lead Russia into the future, with another six-year spell in charge ahead of him. Putin is running for his second consecutive stay in office, and, if he triumphs, his party, “United Russia”, will have had a President in office for six consecutive terms. His party takes up over 75 per cent of seats in the ‘Duma’, the Russian parliament, and most voters have constantly put their trust in the 65-year old. If Putin is to triumph here, he will be 71 by the time the next elections arrive, and will almost certainly retire, due to his inability to run again. Alternatively, he might go on to be Prime Minister again, as he was from 2008 to 2012.

Ksenia Sobchak

The former TV anchor and Russian celebrity is perhaps the most controversial candidate to enter this year’s elections. Despite having no political background, Sobchak is nonetheless considered Putin’s biggest opponent in the elections. She was at first considered a joke by many, but, after collecting the 100,000 signatures needed to make her an official Presidential candidate, Sobchak thinks that she is well on the way to taking up office. TV anchors all over Russia have tried to bring down the former underwear model, using the friendship her father, the former mayor of St Petersburg, had with Putin, as confirmation that she works for the current President. It is believed that she was put forward by the government as a way of testing the water to see what response she would get. Due to her popularity in certain circles, Sobchak has got a lot of TV time over the course of her campaign, and, representing her own Civic Initiative party, should be considered a serious Presidential candidate.


Pavel Grudinin

The new leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), Grudinin runs the Council of deputies of the city settlement Vidnoye near Moscow. His campaign headquarters will be headed by former head of the party, Gennady Zyuganov. Grudinin visited 11 regions in total during his campaign, which focuses mainly on life outside of the main cities. Many opponents have noted that Grudinin himself has little to no links to the Communist Party, and was even an avid opponent of the Communist regime in the USSR in the 1980s, during his twenties. The only link, seemingly, is his control over the ‘Lenin Selkhoz’, and his parents’ ownership of it from the 1950s and onwards. Although Grudinin is seemingly an unusual choice to replace Zyuganov, who was very successful during his years in charge of the Communist Party, he is considered one of the most competent  candidates.

Sergey Baburin

One of the least supported candidates, Baburin runs the Russian All-People’s Union.

Grigory Yavlinsky

Yavlinsky has gained many people’s respect in being able successfully to set up his own party, ‘Yabloko’ (Apple in English), but has not been able to attract as many supporters this time around as six years ago.

Boris Titov

Titov is running for the first time in his career as part of the Party of Growth.

Maxim Suraykin

Part of Russia’s second-largest Communist party, Suraikin is this year’s representative for the Communists of Russia party.