Who is Yekaterina Duntsova? Vladimir Putin challenger barred from elections

Russia's Central Electoral Commission on Saturday rejected an application by a candidate calling for peace to stand in next year's presidential elections.

The commission cited "mistakes in documents" submitted by Yekaterina Duntsova, a former journalist and city councillor campaigning "for peace and democratic processes", Russian television reported.

The commission's chief, Ella Pamfilova, said the members unanimously rejected Duntsova's bid to stand in polls that President Vladimir Putin is expected to win comfortably.

The commission said Duntsova could not go on to the next stage of gathering thousands of supporters' signatures.

Pamfilova told her: "You are a young woman, you have everything ahead of you."

Duntsova, 40, had filed documents to stand in the March race as an independent candidate.

Pamfilova said Saturday that 29 people have filed to run for the presidency.

Moscow has for years sidelined opposition figures from elections and political life, a clampdown that accelerated after the Kremlin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine in 2022.

_{Who is Yekaterina Duntsova}

1. Yekaterina Duntsova planned to run on a platform of ending the war in Ukraine and freeing political prisoners.

2. Russian news channel showed a meeting of the central electoral commission at which its members voted unanimously not to allow Yekaterina Duntsova's candidacy to go ahead, Reuters reported.
3. Yekaterina Duntsova said, "Why did I make this decision? I love our country, I want Russia to be a thriving democratic and peaceful state. But right now our country is moving in a completely different direction. I understand that many right now want to wait it out… but we need to act… Let's at least try! Let's try to win this 'election'!
4. The 40-year-old is a single mother of three with no prior experience in Russia's federal-level politics.
5. On her lack of experience, Yekaterina Duntsova told The Moscow Times, "I am different in that I am more immersed in local political discourse, in [issues of] local governance. It is important for me that I live like most people in this country. All of their worries, their problems are near and dear to me."
6. Yekaterina Duntsova's team had already feared that her candidature would ruffle feathers. She earlier said, "We understand full well what could happen. If we are not able to [gather] on the first try, we will try for the second time, and so on."
7. On her campaign, she expressed confidence before saying, "I already have several people who told me they are ready to help with establishing headquarters in various cities… One of the first ones were people from Krasnoyarsk, the city where I was born, and I am particularly happy about that."