You're reading: The Economist: Barred from the ballot, Putin’s rival is running anyway

With little more than a year remaining before Russia’s next presidential elections, Aleksei Navalny, the country’s leading opposition politician, is hitting the campaign trail. Over the coming weeks he will embark on a tour from Siberia to the Black Sea, opening offices and recruiting volunteers. The fact that a Russian court recently ruled him ineligible to run has done little to change his plans. “Dance as if no one can see you, campaign as if you’re already on the ballot,” Mr Navalny quips.

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