MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian journalist and human rights activist Yekaterina Gordon announced on Monday her intention to run for the Russian presidency in March 2018.
"I have decided to exercise my right and run for the president of Russia. I am likely to be the only candidate [whose decision] is not coordinated with the president's administration," Gordon said in a video address uploaded to her personal website.
Екатерина Гордон приняла решение выдвинуть свою кандидатуру на пост президента РФ.https://t.co/6ETMTwajAT …
— Катя Гордон (@gordon_katya) 30 октября 2017 г.
Подр-е:https://t.co/GjOpJ6brWA pic.twitter.com/s7S3akw71t
According to Gordon, her program will focus on protecting the rights of women and children, something which she has been engaged in over the last several years.
"I have never voted, and now I want to exercise this right and become the voice of the women whose rights have been violated."
Earlier in October, Russian TV host and journalist Ksenia Sobchak announced that she would take part in the presidential election. She defined herself as a candidate "against everyone" in the absence of an option for a scratch vote in ballots, urging Russians who do not support any candidate to vote for her instead of boycotting the election.
Russian polling organization Levada Center published on Monday a survey about potential female candidates in the election, according to which 6 percent of the respondents said that Russian upper house speaker Valentina Matvienko could run for president, while 1.4 percent suggested politician Irina Khakamada. Sobchak and Natalia Poklonskaya, a member of the Russian Parliament's lower house, were both named by 0.4 percent of respondents, respectively.
