Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, Dec. 15, promised "harsh" punishment for foreign interference in next year's election, where he will seek to extend his decades-long grip on power into the 2030s.
"Any interference in Russia's internal affairs will be punished, and punished harshly, according to Russian laws," Putin said during a meeting with party leaders in the Duma, parliament's lower house.
"We are defending the freedom of our people, their sovereignty, their right to choose their future. It's the people and only the people of Russia who are the source of power in our country."
After suffering Western sanctions and setbacks on the battlefield in Ukraine last year, Putin reaches the end of 2023 appearing newly buoyant.
A much-touted Ukrainian counter-offensive has failed to break Russian lines, the economy is recovering, and Western support for Kyiv seems to be faltering, with new aid packages being held up in the US Congress and the European Union.
Putin added that the number of Ukrainian soldiers captured as prisoners has "sharply increased" recently.
Last week, he announced he would run for a fifth presidential term in the March 2024 election, with little doubt surrounding his victory after almost 25 years in power and with the opposition virtually non-existent.
Most leading Russian opposition figures have been jailed, notably anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny, or exiled.
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Comments (3)
The Russian people have no mechanism to oppose Putin, even if by some miracle they were able to vote a moderate leader into power, that person would undoubtably be killed and a coup would take place.
It does not matter what happens in the next Russian election.
The only way for real change is for the world to support Ukraine. When Putin loses his war of choice he will be humiliated, probably murdered by his own allies and then perhaps the next leader will realise that aggression against its neighbours is not good for Russia.
They must lose the war, that is the only way Russia will join us in a free democratic future one day.
There are good Russian people who oppose the war but have no voice, when Ukraine succeeds they will stand up together and realise they also can be free.
"We are defending the freedom of our people, their sovereignty, their right to choose their future. It's the people and only the people of Russia who are the source of power in our country."
first of all: the russian people isnt free, it lives under the dicktatorship of gaylover vladolf putler
second: the sovereignty of the russian people is zero; it is vladolf putler who took this sovereignty away by his dicktatorship
third: it is vladolf putler who choose the broken future of the russian people, he already messed it up severely in the last two years by starting a war over made up arguments and a lots of lies, lies and lies
fourth: the only force of power is vladol putler the ultimate whore of power vladj putain: the russian people are slaves of the thugs mobster mafia kriminals in the kriminalin in the sunken moskva
fi
there has been only one whore of power and that is vladj putain, who meddles in his own elections over and over again
vladolf putler is the only one meddling in elections; his own or others
he always needs some war or bombattacks on appartmentbuildings in the sunken moskva to get itself elected
vloadolf putler bombs gronzy totally to ruins and he gets elected
hopefully there is some one with a big riffle who shoots him through the head
this cuntdicker sergay shoigu lover in siberian woods every year has killed so many people that it is time he gets killed, for the sake of humanity