Against Putin, seven candidates and one glaring absence

– Boris Titov: the businessman –

A representative of the Russian business community, Boris Titov announced his candidacy in the election without any illusion about the result.

Speaking in Crimea on a campaign trip in February, Titov admitted that “nobody has any doubt who will win the election” and said the main aim of the vote is to “convince the authorities, and Putin, to reform the economy.”

The 57-year-old supports the Kremlin’s foreign policy but has called for normalising relations with the West to stabilise the Russian economy.

Titov’s family owns the Russian winery Abrau-Durso, which has existed in the southern Krasnodar region since the 19th century.

His Party of Growth won less than two percent in the 2016 election.

– Sergei Baburin: unknown nationalist –

The 59 year-old leader of the nationalist People’s Union party, Sergei Baburin, is largely unknown to the public and rarely mentioned in the media.

A former vice speaker of the Russian Duma, Baburin says he has been fighting against the “neoliberalism” of the Russian authorities for over 20 years.

– Maxim Suraykin: rebel communist –

Many Russians have also never heard of Maxim Suraykin.

The 39-year-old is a former member of the Russian Communist party who broke away in 2012 and founded the Communists of Russia party.

The Russian Communist Party views the Communists of Russia as a spoiler party and even took it to court for supposedly stealing its symbolism.

Suraykin’s programme says “it is necessary for Russia to have a Stalinist communist president”.