Two Russian Presidential Candidates Withdraw From Elections

They called to support Putin.

Two candidates who previously ran for president of Russia announced on Tuesday that they were leaving the campaign and calling for support for incumbent President Vladimir Putin, Radio Svoboda reported.

Leader of the Russian All-People's Union party Sergei Baburin announced the withdrawal of his candidacy immediately after submitting the signatures collected in his support to the Central Election Commission. Baburin did not explain why he collected signatures. He called on voters to “unite around Putin’s candidacy.” The imperial nationalist Baburin participated in the elections in 2018 and then took last place.

Former editor-in-chief of Ekho Moskvy Alexei Venediktov claims that this time he was “gently advised not to take even one little per cent from the president.”

The Democratic Party, which previously nominated Irina Sviridova for president, said that she was unable to collect the required 100 thousand signatures and is thus leaving the campaign. She also called for support for Putin.

This leaves nine candidates left. Four of them, including Putin, who is running for a fifth term, have already been registered; another one, Sergei Malinkovich, has submitted documents to the Central Election Commission. Four more candidates, including Boris Nadezhdin, who advocated ending the war, have until the evening of January 31 to submit signatures in their support to the Central Election Commission.