In the political bloc of the Russian presidential administration (AP), led by Sergey Kirienko, the "sparring partners" have been identified who will "compete" with Vladimir Putin in the 2024 presidential elections. According to two sources close to the Kremlin as reported by Meduza, one of the main selection criteria for these candidates is their age. Among the registered candidates, there should be no politicians under the age of 50. The officials in the AP estimate that having such candidates on the ballot might lead Russians to consider that the 70-year-old Putin is "not the same person who came to power with a strong hand."
Currently, the AP expects that, in addition to Putin, representatives of three parliamentary parties will participate in the elections: the Communist Party (KPRF), the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), and the "New People" party. The Kremlin views Gennady Zyuganov as the candidate from the Communist Party. "There will be no dark horses like [businessman Pavel] Grudinin nominated by the Communists in 2018. Zyuganov is familiar to the president, he has a high status as the party leader, and his name is known to every voter. At the same time, he has a ceiling – the traditional Communist Party electorate, and he won't attract new voters," explained one of the sources close to the AP.
In the 2008 presidential elections, Zyuganov received 17% of the votes, and in 2012 he received 18%. This stability in his rating is important for the Kremlin's plans, as it is expected that Putin will achieve a "record result" in the upcoming elections. The current president is projected to secure more than 80% of the votes with a turnout of over 70%. The possibility of a scenario similar to Grudinin's has to be considered – where a Kremlin-approved candidate unexpectedly gained popularity, prompting the AP to conduct a full-fledged campaign of negative PR against him. "With Zyuganov, who is well-known but has plateaued, such unexpected developments are unlikely," stated a source close to the AP. Currently, Zyuganov's trust rating according to Levada Center is 3%, and the KPRF's rating according to VCIOM is 10.2%.
The candidate from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), according to the Kremlin's plan, should be the party leader, Leonid Slutsky. According to a source close to the presidential administration (AP), Slutsky himself wants to participate in the elections because he "loves PR." Another source close to the LDPR leadership confirmed this information and added that Slutsky "likes to be in the spotlight in public" and intends to "increase his personal fame." With the same purpose, according to the source, Slutsky is currently heading the party's lists in regional elections: "His photo is on the front pages of party newspapers, and during the presidential elections, he will get additional airtime during debates."
A source close to the Kremlin's political bloc described the situation with Slutsky's nomination as follows: "He fits quite well – a serious man, in a suit, in a respectable position. No one will say he's just a pure spoiler. But Slutsky's personal rating is low, and it's unclear how many votes he can attract.
The situation with the candidate from the "New People" party (NP) is more complicated. In the Kremlin, they would like the party's chairman, businessman Alexey Nechaev, to be nominated. "The logic is the same as with Slutsky: a serious man in a suit, presentable, respectable. But he is not well-known and not very charismatic. The idea is to prevent his rating from surging ahead and threatening Putin's KPI," explained one of the sources close to the presidential administration (AP).
However, so far, this plan has not been agreed upon with Nechaev himself. According to two sources close to the Kremlin, he understands that he won't be allowed to gain many percentage points, and he doesn't want to settle for a small share and be known as "Alexey 2%."
"Nechaev wants NP to at least secure third place in the 2026 State Duma elections. He believes that a low result in the presidential elections would hinder this goal," explained a source close to the AP.
According to information from sources close to the AP, instead of himself, Nechaev proposes Vice-Speaker of the State Duma Vladislav Davankov, who is currently running for mayor of Moscow. However, the AP is not satisfied with this candidacy.
According to a survey conducted by the company Russian Field in May of this year, age is the third most popular response to the question of what Russians "dislike" about the current president. The only factors ranked higher are Putin's "softness" (though what this "softness" entails is entirely unclear) and his lack of attention to domestic affairs.
Even officials have started to view Putin differently after he turned seventy. Previously, sources close to Meduza who were among officials, members of the United Russia party, loyalist businessmen, and political technologists would refer to the current president as the "first," "chief," "supreme," or even "papa." Now, they more often refer to him as "grandfather." When asked about the reasons behind this change, one of the sources close to the Kremlin responded, "Well, he's a oldman now, and that's just a neutral term. He's at that age."
