In March, Vladimir Putin will start yet another six-year presidential term. But despite the absurdity of a ‘presidential election’ in Russia, the run-up to it and the event itself offer insight into how the country works – 24 years into Putin’s regime and during wartime.

The challenges of staying in power in this context are considerable, and only partly mitigated by dealing with opposition in different ways – Navalny and Nadezhdin most recently. The Russian state has been transformed for multiple reasons: to assist in its prosecution of the war, to maintain control and stability, and simply to keep on going.

This discussion will offer a closer look at how the regime maintains itself, and how Russia’s ruling class has evolved over the past two years.

Key questions:

How are the elites changing?
What are the differences between how Russia is governed in the cities and in the provinces?
What strategies does the Kremlin employ to keep Russians interested in electoral cycles?
What is the role of the diaspora in enacting change within Russia?
How sustainable are the new ‘techniques’ of regime continuation? Will new ones need to be found?

More on Russia from Chatham House: https://www.chathamhouse.org/regions/...