Updated Jan. 28, 2024 at 8 p.m.
MOSCOW — Until four months ago, Yekaterina Duntsova was completely unknown. A journalist in Rzhev, a small town of 60,000 inhabitants some 230 kilometers west of Moscow, she surprised Russia’s narrow liberal circles by declaring herself a presidential candidate to run against the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, on March 17.
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“From now on, there is no going back. Straight ahead!” she told Les Echos over a cup of tea in a central Moscow restaurant.
Her three children are still growing up in Rzhev. But the life of this divorced mother is now playing out in the capital. She has turned a new page dedicated to politics. A donor, a “dear friend,” lent her an apartment and is covering the admittedly limited costs of her campaign.
Unsurprisingly, Russia’s electoral commission rejected her candidacy in late December, citing irregularities in her files.
But Duntsova is looking to the future: she has just submitted the first documents to create her own party. In early March, two weeks before the election, she wants to hold its first congress. She is also planning to travel to the provinces, first to Murmansk and then across Russia.
A new party
Her sights are set on the next elections (local elections next September) and ultimately the 2030 presidential race. She will be 46 years old. Putin, who will be 77 years old, will be able to run again, 30 years after coming to power.
Her political path is already full of obstacles
“I never voted for him. We must end elections without choice in Russia,” Duntsova says in her calm voice.
As a former journalist and city councilor, she says she felt the need “to move on to another stage” and, along with friends who are similarly eager for political alternatives, “had the idea of daring to run against Putin.”
Her determination and ambition pierce from under her light blue outfit, her peaceful tone and her calibrated words. “I do what I feel is necessary to unite people, so that they do not fall asleep. For those who think, those who want life and peace,” says the trained lawyer.
Network from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok
With a network of local support “from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok,” she also has links abroad among Russians who have gone into exile. In less than four months, her channel on Telegram (the most popular social network in and outside the country) has grown from a few dozen followers to more than 300,000.
However, Duntsova’s political path is already full of obstacles. She has been summoned to the local prosecutor’s office after declaring her candidacy and was briefly arrested by traffic police after leaving a public meeting. “The authorities will do everything to avoid registering my party. Because they want to block any initiative that disrupts the apparent calm and speaks of peace!”
By saying she is “for peace,” Duntsova does not hide her opposition to the Kremlin’s “special military operation” launched almost two years ago in Ukraine. Cautious, the rebel is careful about the words she uses. For months now, police arrests and legal proceedings have been increasing against any voice denouncing the official narrative. Duntsova says she has not received a court summons for her stance. “But who knows what the judges are up to,” she quips.
“I am not afraid.”
No sign either from political authorities, neither to probe nor to warn her. “I am sure of what I am doing,” Duntsova says. To end the conflict with Ukraine, she is ready for negotiations, including with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. As for her political program, she is equally clear and determined: “release political prisoners, abolish laws on foreign agents and other repressive measures, reform the judicial system, restore confidence in the rule of law.” To conclude: “I am not afraid.”
