Paul Goble
Staunton, July 31 – In the run up to the Duma elections in 2021, the Kremlin focused on blocking candidates it didn’t like from getting on the ballot, Horizontal Russia says. As a result, many independent-minded and even opposition-inclined candidates were able to run in regional and municipal elections.
Already in tight control of the Duma candidate list, the Putin regime this time around has focused on imposing similar restrictions on regional and municipal balloting lest someone get on the ballot, win and then become a person around which people can mobilize against the Kremlin (semnasem.org/articles/2026/07/31/na-dalnih-podstupah).
According to specialists on regional politics like Fyodor Krasheninnikov, the Kremlin’s fears in this regard are almost certainly exaggerated, those in power believe that they have an ideal opportunity to exclude from politics all who disagree anyone who is not happy either with Moscow or with Moscow’s agents in the federal subjects.
There is another consequence of this shift, one that Horizontal Russia doesn’t address but that is critically important for shaping Western analytic opinion about what is going on. Because Moscow doesn’t have to do as much this time around to control the candidates for the Duma, its actions outside of Moscow as usual are getting less attention.
And as a result, some may see the Putin regime as more successful in imposing its will and less likely to be increasing repression instead of being engaged in a real struggle for power at the regional and local levels where in fact, as Horizontal Russia documents, the Kremlin is if anything even more repressive this time around than last.
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