Putin will avoid Ukraine in his 2024 campaign, to focus on Western criticism: Report

Russian President Vladimir Putin will avoid making the war in Ukraine the central theme of his presidential election campaign next year, Meduza reported.

Instead of highlighting the Russian war on Ukraine, Putin’s advisers will focus on an election campaign that paints him as a leader who made Russia an “island of tranquility” while the West is “engulfed in chaos,” sources close to the Russian presidential administration told Meduza, one of Russia's most widely read independent news sites.

Meduza sources claimed that Putin’s ratings increase after speeches in which he criticizes the West, and that as the election looms closer Russian state propaganda will “intensify” publishing stories about “difficulties” in Western countries.

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Putin’s campaign will also play up the portrayal of the US as incapable of supporting both Ukraine and Israel in their respective conflicts. “The US is about to collapse from the fact that it’s going to have to support not just Ukraine but Israel as well. Their end is inevitable,” the Meduza source said, encapsulating the main narrative Russian propaganda will play up in the campaign.

The campaign will also paint a picture that Russia “looks pretty good against the backdrop of the general chaos” in the world and in spite of all the sanctions against it.

Russia is expected to hold its presidential election on March 17, 2024, according to state news agency TASS. Putin “has the right to seek another term in office” but has not officially made an announcement yet.

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