Kremlin-No Comment On Putin 2024 Candidacy

Wires reporting comments from Kremlin spox Dmitri Peskov. Asked 'when and if' President Vladimir Putin will announce his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election, Peskov responds that "the pre-election campaign hasn't started yet". It is seen as overwhelmingly likely that Putin will announce his intention to run for another six-year term in office.

• Under the 2020 constitutional amendments, the presidential term was changed from four to six years with a limit of two terms. While Putin has served as president from 2000-08 and 2012-present, the amendment has 'reset' the counter, meaning that in the event he runs and is re-elected in 2024 the term running until 2030 would count as his first term in office. As such, he would legally be entitled to run again, potentially extending his rule of Russia up until 2036.

• This is related to a mob in the predominantly Muslim Republic of Dagestan that descended on an airport to "catch" Jewish passengers on a flight arriving from Tel Aviv. Gov't officials blamed "interference" from the West and Kyiv for the incident.