Putin seeking fifth term as Russian president

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Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Friday launched his campaign for another six-year term. Russia’s upper house of parliament on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution to hold the next presidential election on March 17. The 71-year-old leader is eligible to run for two more terms, according to a constitutional reform he signed in 2021. He has held continuous power since 1999 as either president or prime minister.

Who might challenge Putin? Former lawmaker Boris Nadezhdin and lawyer Yekaterina Duntsova have said they plan to run in the election. Several politicians and leaders who have been critical of Putin, including opposition leader Alexei Navalny, are currently imprisoned or living abroad. Putin currently has an approval rating of 82 percent, according to data from the Levada Center, a non-governmental organization in Russia.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Mindy Belz’s report on Putin’s 2004 re-election.

Lauren Canterberry

Lauren Canterberry is a reporter for WORLD. She graduated from the World Journalism Institute and the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism, both in 2017. She worked as a local reporter in Texas and now lives in Georgia with her husband.