The Russian upper chamber of parliament designated March 17, 2024, as the date for the next presidential election, which is widely predicted to be won by longtime President, Vladimir Putin.
The senators overwhelmingly accepted the date in a live televised meeting, a step that “practically kicks off the presidential campaign,” according to the chamber’s head, Valentina Matvienko.
Although he has not formally declared his intention to run in the election, Putin, who has ruled Russia as either the country’s president or prime minister since 2000, is most likely to do so in the coming weeks.
The election is scheduled to hold two years after Russia in February 2022, annexed the Ukrainian regions of Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia and began what it refers to as a special military operation in the country.
According to Matvienko, the election “will be a sort of culmination of reunification” for the regions.
