Discontent towards Russia’s Putin on rise: Former speechwriter

Gallyamov noted that Russia’s capture of Avdiivka will be a key factor to “suppress this discontent” and “strengthen Putin’s domestic standing” ahead of Russian elections.

If there were no victory in Avdiivka, Putin would fail to “solidify his control” over Russia, Gallyamov told CNN’s Brianna Keilar Wednesday.

This military gain gave him “an additional injection of legitimacy” and is very beneficial for his presidential campaign.

Talking about people reportedly detained across Russia over vigils for opposition figure Alexey Navalny, Gallyamov stated “sooner or later this will definitely backfire” because the discontent in society is growing and “at some moment it can become very strong”.

Gallyamov added Putin is trying to get rid of all the opposition leaders to at least make discontent in Russian society be “unstructured”, “disorganized” and “leaderless” ahead of future elections.

Putin will seek reelection for a fifth term in office as an independent candidate. Putin ran as a party nominee only once, in 2012.

The presidential election is scheduled for a three-day period from March 15 to 17, with the winner to be inaugurated in May. It will be the first time a presidential election in Russia has been held over multiple days, after the format was introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Several major Russian parties, including the Communist Party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), and New People have signaled they will put forward candidates. In addition, multiple public figures and politicians have already announced their intent to run for office as independents.