The Kremlin refused to comment today (Monday) whether the president Vladimir Putin He will run again in the elections next year when his current term ends.
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In 2009, the House of Representatives in Russia accepted the president’s proposal to extend the president’s term, and an amendment was added to the constitution according to which the president is elected for six years and for two terms only. The amendment took effect starting with the 2012 presidential election, paving the way for Putin’s return to the Kremlin for a fourth term as president.
Recently, criticism of Putin has increased against the background of Russia’s conduct in the war against Ukraine. Igor Girkin, a former commander of the pro-Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, claimed that the differences among the senior leadership in Russia are growing in view of the difficulties encountered by the Russian army in Ukraine. “If I knew how to draw, I would create a cartoon consisting of two heads of our national symbol, each of them poking each other,” Girkin wrote, adding: “The division is growing.”
Gorkin’s words are not the first indication that the Russian leadership is not united about its approach to the war in Ukraine. Only recently, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the “Wagner Group”, claimed that his soldiers are having difficulty achieving achievements in combat due to the conduct of Putin’s army. In an interview with the state media in Russia, he said that his men cannot advance in the city of Artemovsk, because Putin’s army has not yet evacuated buildings in its territory.
At the same time, a former close associate of Putin claimed that “the Russian president will appoint his chosen successor already this year, instead of risking his overthrow.” The insider also claimed that Putin will seek to relinquish power, and negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, and in fact will not participate in the elections planned for 2024.