RUSSIA PUTIN WILL SEIZE HIS CHANCE TO PROVE THAT THE WAR IS ON TRACK

In news that probably shocked no one, Vladimir Putin announced last month that he will seek a fifth presidential term in the upcoming March elections.

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Putin, 71, has come to dominate Russia's political system and the media over the past two decades. But while the election appears to be a formality, it will be held in an ever more conservative country that has been fundamentally changed by war, where all dissent has been criminalised and with prominent opposition politicians behind bars.

The elections will be different in terms of the ground they cover too, with voting taking place in what Russia calls its new territories; parts of Ukraine now occupied by Russian forces.

"These elections are a means for Putin to legitimise his decision to go the war in Ukraine," said

Andrei Kolesnikov, senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, based in Moscow.