Seven candidates will face Vladimir Putin in the March 18 presidential election in Russia. But his main rival, the charismatic Alexei Navalny, has lost the right to run.
Alexei Navalny, the great absentee
Known for his anti-corruption investigations of Russian elites, which are becoming known on social media, the charismatic Russian lawyer became widely known for organizing large anti-government demonstrations last year.
At the age of 41, he thus confirmed that he is the main political opponent of Vladimir Putin, the only one capable of mobilizing tens of thousands of people against the government.
The presidential election will not allow him to measure his impact at the national level: ψ, which Alexei Navalny denounces as rigged from beginning to end.
He has called for a boycott of the vote, promised protests and wants to send observers to detect irregularities in the polls.
Pavel Grudinin, the millionaire communist
The surprise candidacy of Pavel Grudinin, 57, gave a "fresh" air to the Communist Party, which, since the fall of the Soviet Union, had been represented by Gennady Zyuganov.
The director of Sovchoz Lenin, a multimillion-dollar fruit-growing farm, is the most popular of Vladimir Putin's opponents, garnering… 7% of the vote.
If he criticizes certain government policies and praises Stalin, he never personally attacks Putin, whom he has supported in the past. Interest in his face has sparked a wave of hostile articles in the Kremlin press. He denounced the "constant pressure" exerted by the Russian authorities.
Vladimir Zirinovsky, the populist agitator
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, 71, is the traditional candidate of the far-right (Liberal Democratic Party of Russia - LDPR). An anti-American, anti-liberal, anti-communist, he is considered by observers to be a Kremlin rival or not, and political observers describe him as a joker.
Marginalized in recent years, Vladimir Zironovsky has lost nothing of his rhetoric and is credited with 5,7% of the vote.
Xenia Sabchak, "against all"
Xenia Sabcak, a 36-year-old former television reality journalist and pro-liberal opposition journalist, entered the presidential race with the slogan "against all".
Some have spoken of a Kremlin-sponsored candidacy to forget the absence of Alexei Navalny, highlighting Xenia Sabtsak's ties to the Russian president, who worked with Anatoly Sabchak's father in St. Petersburg in the 90s.
Although polls give her just over 1% of the vote, her candidacy gave life to a pre-judged election campaign that gave the Kremlin a rare backlash against the Russian media.
Grigory Yavlinsky, the veteran liberal
One of the few liberal politicians with a caliber in Russia, Grigory Yavlinsky, 65, founded the Yabloko party shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union.
He remains critical of Putin, but his candidacy has been met with skepticism, with opinion polls showing less than 1% of the vote.
Boris Titov, the businessman
A spokesman for businessmen in Russia, Boris Titov, 57, entered the race without illusions, "to persuade Putin to change the economy."
His predictions give 0,4% of the votes. He is in favor of taking measures for economic recovery and normalizing relations with the West.
Sergei Baburin, the discreet nationalist
The leader of the nationalist Union of the Russian People party, 59-year-old Sergei Babutin, is unknown to the general public and has little media presence.
A former vice-president of the Duma, he states that he has been fighting for 20 years against the "neoliberal" directions of the Russian authorities.
Maxim Suraikin, the schismatic communist
Few had heard of Maxim Suraikin, 39, before entering the presidential race. A former member of the Communist Party, he left to found the Communist Party of Russia in 2012. Its political weight is non-existent.