For those who are agonizing over how to vote and can’t figure it out: here it all is in one image.
Who’s actually fighting, who’s just going through the motions, who’s genuine, and who’s a Kremlin stooge.
Some guys watched the debates and made an infographic about mentions of Putin and the context in which he was mentioned.
There’s also an interesting personal ranking of those who aren’t afraid to criticize Putin directly:
Maltsev (PARNAS)
Zubov (PARNAS)
Ivanenko (Yabloko)/Kasyanov (PARNAS)
The Communist Party and A Just Russia are just horribly cowardly.
The Party of Growth, Civic Platform, and Rodina are stooge parties.
Yesterday I was listening on Echo of Moscow to the program Full Albats, where political analysts were arguing about why these elections attract no one and aren’t even being discussed.
There’s your answer. Elections are supposed to have a real contest—but where’s the contest here? If it weren’t for Maltsev and Zubov, there wouldn’t even have been a fun debate highlight reel.