Putin is Illegitimate

In March 2024, Andrey led the first-ever Russian pro-democracy advocacy campaign on Capitol Hill organized by Virginia-based non-profit Russian America for Democracy in Russia. 33 antiwar Russians from 10 states advocated congressional offices to adopt a resolution denying Vladimir Putin recognition as legitimately elected president of Russia, create a political prisoner exchange mechanism, and establish a congressional Free Russia Caucus. To facilitate conversations with staffers, Andrey authored this agenda file for distribution. 

Russian America for Democracy in Russia (RADR) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 2021 that unites 18 communities of pro-democracy Russians in the United States. RADR's primary focus is to strengthen the pro-democracy Russian American community as a force influencing the Russian pro-democracy movement and supporting the democratic movement, as well as human and civil rights in Russia.

 cognize Putin as illegitimate after March 17, 2024

Vladimir Putin is seeking a fifth presidential term this week. His extended tenure of over 25 years is not sustained by popular support. The success of this so-called "election" will rely solely on numerous violations of national and international laws.

It is a crucial moment for American lawmakers in both chambers of Congress to unequivocally declare their recognition of Vladimir Putin's illegitimacy following March 17, 2024.

RADR urges the United States Congress to adopt a joint or concurrent resolution to refuse recognition of Vladimir Putin as a democratically legitimate president following the so-called "presidential election" in Russia on March 15-17. This stance is based on the following grounds:

-  The election will be held on Ukrainian lands currently occupied by Russia, and will be used as a means to legitimize the annexation of territory of a sovereign nation.

-  Most prominent antiwar opposition politicians are either dead, in jail, or were denied registration as candidates.

-  The U.S. Congress has an opportunity to send a message to nations and regimes around the world that it will not tolerate annexation of sovereign lands, and that the United States does not welcome any cooperation or trade with Vladimir Putin and his regime.

-  Non-recognition of the election will send a vital signal that the U.S. Congress draws a distinction between the Putin regime and the Russian people.

Inaction will be perceived by Putin's dictatorship as weakness and approval.

Non-recognition of the 2024 presidential election in Russia

Vladimir Putin has been in power since 1999 and is seeking re-election for the fifth, unconstitutional, presidential term this week. The election is going to be held with no opposition candidates, with coercion of administrative and military personnel, with the implementation of a Remote Electronic Voting system, a non-transparent and untraceable e-voting system operated by the Russian government.

-       The election will be held in Ukrainian territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and occupied parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. Experts from reputable organizations like the Atlantic Council and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace claim that Vladimir Putin will use this election to legitimize the annexation of these Ukrainian lands. RADR considers such occupation and legitimization of annexation unacceptable and asks the United States Congress to deny such legitimization.

-       Presidential elections in modern-day Russia have been lacking real competition for decades. Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Putin regime has ramped up political prosecution and repression. According to the report by the Memorial Human Rights Defense Centre to the UN Human Rights Council, the number of political prisoners in Russia has tripled in the last five years. The most prominent prisoners in Russia are politicians Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza sentenced to 8.5 and 25 years in prison respectively. The most prominent critic and opponent of Vladimir Putin - Alexei Navalny - was previously sentenced to 19 years in prison and recently died in the penal colony in the Russian Far North. Navalny’s associates, along with many European and American leaders asserted this death was a political murder sanctioned by Vladimir Putin personally.

The non-competitive nature of the electoral process is also showcased by the denial of registration for opposition antiwar candidates Boris Nadezhdin and Ekaterina Duntzova. Both candidates had significant popular support – the former collected over 200,000 signatures in support of his candidacy – and were denied registration by the Central Election Commission of Russia.

-       Non-recognition of this election will send a vital signal to communities around the world. Since the onset of the 2022 sanctions on Russia, the Putin regime established black-market ties to the countries of the so-called Global South, i.e. China, India, Brazil, South Africa, etc. Such ties help the Putin regime circumvent restrictions, importing Western components for military production and exporting Russia’s natural resources to fund the war. Disacknowledgement by the U.S. Congress will convey the disapproval message to governments and citizens that continue financial operations with Russia.

RADR also believes that a non-recognition resolution will be an important message that the U.S. Congress makes a distinction between the Putin regime and the Russian people.