Russian politician Sergey Baburin submits signatures in support of presidential candidacy, promptly withdraws from race, backs Putin

Sergey Baburin, the Russian All-People’s Union’s presidential candidate, has submitted voter signatures in support of his candidacy to Russia’s Central Election Commission, reports TASS.

Immediately after submitting the signatures, Baburin announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy and called on voters to unite around Vladimir Putin in the Russian presidential elections.

The Russian presidential elections will be held from March 15 to 17, 2024. Vladimir Putin has announced that he will run for a fifth term as an independent candidate. In addition to Putin, the Central Election Commission has registered three more presidential candidates thus far: Leonid Slutsky (of the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia), Nikolai Kharitonov (Communist Party), and Vladislav Davankov (New People).