Anti-war candidate Duntsova applies to run against Putin for Russian president

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Former TV journalist Yekaterina Duntsova put her name forward on Wednesday to stand in a Russian presidential election in March that Vladimir Putin is expected to win by a landslide.

Duntsova, 40, called in an interview with Reuters last month for an end to the conflict in Ukraine and the release of political prisoners including opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

She submitted documents to officials at the Central Electoral Commission to formally enter the election in which Putin’s victory is widely seen as a foregone conclusion by supporters and opponents alike.

Putin, 71, has been in power as president or prime minister since 1999 and is seeking another six-year term. With Navalny serving prison sentences totalling more than 30 years and other leading Kremlin critics either behind bars or outside the country because of the risk of arrest, there is no established opposition figure to challenge him.

Navalny’s supporters call the election a sham, saying the Kremlin controls who can run and can easily manipulate the vote if needed with the help of an opaque electronic voting system. The Kremlin says Putin will win because he enjoys overwhelming public support, with opinion poll ratings of around 80%.

Duntsova’s next hurdle will be to gather 300,000 signatures in support of her candidacy from all across Russia, with a deadline of Jan. 31.

Putin announced earlier this month that he would run, but no other candidate has formally applied so far. Those backed by a political party only need 100,000 signatures.

In her interview with Reuters, Duntsova avoided using the word “war” to describe the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which Putin calls a “special military operation”, and acknowledged she was afraid.

“Any sane person taking this step would be afraid – but fear must not win,” she said.

(Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan, Editing by Alex Richardson)