Russian communist Mykola Kharitonov officially nominated his candidacy for the March 17 presidential election on Wednesday, and opposition journalist Kateryna Duntsova announced her intention to form a party after her candidacy was declared invalid, EFE and France reported. Press agencies, respectively Agerpres.

The candidate from the communists submitted his documents to the Central Election Commission (CEC), which previously rejected Kateryna Duntsova’s candidacy.

Mykola Kharitonov, 75, won support for his presidential bid on Saturday at a congress of the Russian Communist Party (RCP), the party that supports the military campaign launched by President Vladimir Putin against Ukraine.

Kharitonov also took part in the 2004 presidential election, when he came in second place with 13.69% of the vote. It is expected that the CEC will approve his candidacy, although, according to the Meduza portal, the Kremlin administration is not satisfied with the refusal of the communist leader Gennady Zyuganov to run again independently. Other sources say that, on the contrary, 79-year-old Zyuganov would agree with Putin not to run for office.

During this time, the Supreme Court of Russia rejected the appeal filed by the opponent Kateryna Duntsova after the Central Electoral Commission declared her candidacy from the “people’s initiative” invalid due to deficiencies in the form and errors in the documents.

Unknown to most Russians, Kateryna Duntsova presents herself on her website as a “journalist and lawyer.” Since announcing her candidacy, she has stood out primarily for her opposition to Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine.

After the Supreme Court finally recognized her candidacy as invalid, Duntsova confirmed that she could no longer run for the presidency, but said that she would not leave the political struggle and create a party of “all those who stand for peace, freedom and democracy”.

So far, President Vladimir Putin does not have a rival who could create problems for him in obtaining a new mandate.

Communist Party of Russia, opposition on paper

The Communist Party is on paper one of the parliamentary opposition parties, but in reality it supports the Kremlin’s policies.

“Our task is to strengthen people during the election campaign so that there is victory on all fronts,” Mykola Kharitonov marched in front of the media, referring to the conflict in Ukraine.

His program is called “Victory,” he added.

At the age of 75, Kharitonov is a veteran politician, having been a Duma deputy since 1993 and a member of the Russian Communist Party since 2008. He was under the sanctions of Europe, America and Canada after Russia’s offensive in neighboring Ukraine.

Kharitonov ran for president in 2004, winning 13.69% of the vote against Vladimir Putin, who was then re-elected for the first time.

The leader of the Russian Communist Party, the iconic 79-year-old Gennady Zyuganov, will not participate in the elections to the Verkhovna Rada for the fifth time after 1996, 2000, 2008 and 2012.

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