Leader of the «Russian People’s Union» party Sergey Baburin announced the withdrawal of his candidacy immediately after submitting the signatures collected in his support to the Central Election Commission. Baburin did not explain why he collected the signatures. He called on voters to «unite around Putin’s candidacy.»
Nationalist-imperialist Baburin participated in the elections in 2018 and then took last place. The former chief editor of «Echo of Moscow» claims that this time he was «gently advised not to take even a percentage away from the president.»