Russian President Vladimir Putin applauds at the Grand Kremlin Palace, on Nov. 21, 2023 in Moscow, Russia.
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Incumbent Russian leader Vladimir Putin has confirmed he will run in the national presidential elections of 2024, state news agency Tass reported, according to a Google translation.
Putin has run Russia for roughly 24 years, alternatively serving as prime minister and president since 1999. Securing another presidential mandate in 2024 would see him remain at the helm of Russian politics until at least 2030.
Putin remains widely popular domestically, despite the costly and bloody ongoing war in Ukraine, widespread international criticism and ensuing Western sanctions over the invasion. There was also a failed coup over the summer that saw Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Russian paramilitary group Wagner turn against Moscow. Citing survey figures produced by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion, Tass says that 78.5% of Russians trust Putin, while 75.8% approve of his activities.
Western reprobation has isolated Putin on the world stage, bringing Russia closer to China, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Critically, the Russian leader’s freedom to move abroad and engage diplomatically has been curtailed by an arrest warrant emitted in March 2023 by the International Criminal Court for the war crime of unlawful deporting and transferring children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. All 123 countries party to the Rome Statue that underpins the ICC would be obligated to arrest Putin if he entered their territories.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated shortly.
