December 12, 2023

An Unexpected Expected Announcement


An Unexpected Expected Announcement
Russian President Vladimir Putin walking through golden gates. Steven Pifer, Twitter.

On December 8, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced at an awards ceremony that he would seek a fifth term as Russia's president in the upcoming 2024 election. 

After Putin finished a speech to honor awardees, cameras focused on medal recipient Artem Zhoga, the People's Council Chairman of the Russian-occupied Donetsk People's Republic and the father of a soldier who died in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Zhoga approached the podium and showered Putin with accolades, to which the president of 19 years responded, "Thank you so much. I won't hide that at different times I had different thoughts. But now, you are right, now is the time to make a decision. I will run for the post of president of the Russian Federation."

The seemingly unofficial announcement prompted various responses from the opposition. The director of the Alexey Navalny-founded Anti-Corruption Foundation, Ivan Zhdanov, said,  "That was funny... I don't think they planned to announce the nomination like this... Someone will receive a hit in the head for this."

Opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov said, "And there comes the voice from the fridge: I'm going, he says, for a fifth term! The surprise, frankly speaking, was not a success."

Human rights activist Alina Popova said, "This is news, this is an event! No one waited, but he took [the opportunity] and solved the intrigue! Moreover, according to tradition, he did not decide on his own but kindly agreed when asked: either the workers asked or the father of a deceased military man... Don't you find this funny? Who are they hoping to deceive?"

Putin's re-election will take place March 15-17, 2024 – the ever-popular Ides of March to St. Patrick's Day weekend.

 

You Might Also Like

Armenia Joins ICC against Putin's Wishes
  • October 18, 2023

Armenia Joins ICC against Putin's Wishes

Armenia joined the International Criminal Court (ICC) in response to Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh offensive, straining its relationship with Russia.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

22 Russian Crosswords

22 Russian Crosswords

Test your knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and society with these 22 challenging puzzles taken from the pages of Russian Life magazine. Most all the clues are in English, but you must fill in the answers in Russian. If you get stumped, of course all the puzzles have answers printed at the back of the book.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
The Little Humpbacked Horse

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955