Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday (Dec 15) promised harsh punishment for any foreign interference in the 2024 presidential election. During a meeting with party leaders in the Duma, parliament’s lower house, President Putin said, “Any interference in Russia’s internal affairs will be punished, and punished harshly, according to Russian laws.”
“We are defending the freedom of our people, their sovereignty, their right to choose their future. It’s the people and only the people of Russia who are the source of power in our country,” he added.
Last week, Putin announced he would run for a fifth presidential term in the election, with little doubt surrounding his victory after almost 25 years in power and with the opposition virtually non-existent.
Election on March 17 next year
The presidential election in Russia will be held on March 17 next year. Last week, Valentina Matviyenko, head of the Federation Council, said that for the first time, residents of the parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson regions of Ukraine annexed by Russia during the ongoing war would take part in the vote.
“By choosing a head of state together, we fully share the common responsibility and common destiny of our fatherland,” Matviyenko said.
Vladimir Putin, 71, who was handed over the presidency by Boris Yeltsin on the last day of 1999, has already served as president for longer than any other ruler of Russia since Josef Stalin.
According to a report by the news agency Reuters, the presidential election is just a formality for Putin due to the support of the state, the state-run media and almost no mainstream public dissent.
Most leading Russian opposition figures have been jailed or exiled.
