[Worldtraveler once upon a time]

--- "You would have to have a death wish to run against Putin. I know he's a hero to some people on this form. But he's not."

No Putin "worshiper" here though some Freeper jackass trotted out the "Putin stooge" routine.

As to a death wish to run against Putin, some seemed to have done it, and others are already ginning up campaigns.

A source for the last election -- whether fair or not -- shows three names at the forefront: 2018 Russian presidential election

Pavel Grudinin, Communist party, and Vladimir Zhirinovsky, so-called right-wing LDPR, are still around.

So far, announced for the 2024 election are three candidates, two not dead. Same political parties more or less. Nikolay Kharitonov, a Commie, and Leonid Slutsky, LDPR.

That's just what one finds through Wiki.

And now a question based on your assertion: To whom on this forum is Putin an actual hero? I haven't found one, so you naming a Freeper who says Putin is their hero would assist.

[billakay]

Small correction: Zhirinovsky passed away in 2022 but he definitely was not killed for running for President. He died as a complication of an illness (not sure 100% if Covid or something else).