Ekaterina Duntsova wants to be president – a rival to Putin

A young journalist wants to become the president of Russia. A few days after he filed his nomination, he had to appear at the public prosecutor’s office.

She is young and wants a democratic Russia: Ekaterina Duntsova is the exact opposite of President Vladimir Putin. And he wants to take office next year. Who is the brave girl?

A few days ago, Duntsova announced her candidacy on Telegram. “Today I share with you an important decision that has long been in my heart,” he wrote at the beginning.

Why is she running? “I love our country because I want Russia to be a democratic, prosperous and peaceful country,” he continues. “Now our country is moving in a completely different direction: away from rights and freedoms, away from love and peace, away from a beautiful future.” Words the Kremlin ruler would never like.

He uses the word election provocatively in quotation marks and is aware that he could be jailed for his candidacy. If Putin wants to run again you can already describe your candidacy as hopeless – and that has a lot to say.

A prime example of Putin’s closest opponent, Alexei Navalny, shows what can happen to her for her courage. He wanted to run against Putin in 2016, four years later he was poisoned with Novichok, and today he is serving 19 years in a prison camp. Read more about Navalny’s fate here.

Duntsovar, 40, was born in Krasnoyarsk, deep in Siberia. Dantsova is a single mother of three children. He told the Moscow Times that his 19-year-old daughter was supporting him in his campaign. He studied law and television journalism.

In 2019, he made a foray into politics, becoming a member of the city Duma of Rzhev, 200 kilometers west of the Russian capital. A year ago, the local parliament was dissolved and the city and district merged. His political career is now over. He writes on his website that he coordinates local and volunteer search and rescue teams in Rzhev looking for missing children and adults.

“I am raising three children and it is important to me which country we leave them,” Duntsova writes in Telegram. “I understand that many people now want to wait, wait, wait, but we have to act today, it may be too late.” Every word she says seems like a direct attack on the ruler in the Kremlin. On his website he is even more specific: “In a large state, everything is decided by one. ‘Military actions’ on the territory of neighboring states inevitably lead to isolation and degradation.”

The Kremlin was quick to hear his declaration that he wanted to be president of Russia. On Tuesday, Dunsover was questioned by the state attorney’s office. In particular, what was said about the wording of their announcement. He writes: “I replied that I would leave it as it is. And the words in the text are to be understood—everyone must decide for himself. There is no violation of law.”

Your nomination is not yet finalised. Officially he needs to collect 300,000 signatures, and so far 10,000 signatures have been collected, Duntsova wrote in a telegram on Wednesday. Also, 500 supporters must gather at one place at the same time to support their candidature. “We know very well what will happen,” Duntsova told The Moscow Times. “If we can’t collect on the first try, we try a second time, and so on.” Even if he achieves that, Danzoa expects anything but a fair and free election.