Navalny’s team times campaign with Russia's upcoming presidential election, spreads Russia Without Putin banners across the country

Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) has announced the launch of a campaign titled “Russia Without Putin,” offline and on the neputin.org website. The campaign aims to encourage Russians to turn up at next year's presidential election and vote against Putin.

“For Putin, the 2024 election is a referendum on whether the nation approves of his actions and the war. ... The election results will be falsified, but our objective is to make everyone look beyond the official numbers and realize: Russia doesn't need Putin anymore,” reads the statement on the home page of the campaign website.

In several Russian cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg, banners have appeared with the caption “Russia, Happy New Year” and a QR code leading to the Russia Without Putin website. ACF director Ivan Zhdanov confirmed the organization's involvement to The Insider: “We’re the ones behind it,” said Zhdanov.

On December 7, Russia’s Federation Council set the date for the presidential election: the voting will take place on March 17, 2024. Council chair Valentina Matvienko has announced the launch of the election campaign, adding that Russia will extend its presidential election to the occupied territories in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya regions of Ukraine.