Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin will run for a new term from the United Russia party this year, and not as an independent candidate, as in previous times. This was reported in the capital branch of "United Russia", writes "Kommersant".
The head of the Moscow branch of the party and deputy chairman of the State Duma, Pyotr Tolstoy, said that Sobyanin made such a decision because of his "close connection" with United Russia and "the consolidation of society around the president's party."
For Sobyanin, these elections will be the third. In 2010, he was appointed to this post by the president, and then twice, in 2013 and 2018, he won direct elections as an independent candidate.
The Moscow City Duma sets the date for the election of the mayor of Moscow 90–100 days before the single voting day. This year it is scheduled for September 10th, so the election must be announced no earlier than June 2nd and no later than June 12th.
After the start of the war with Ukraine, Sobyanin performed at the Luzhniki Stadium at a rally-concert in honor of the anniversary of the annexation of Crimea. The concert was held under the slogan “For a world without Nazism! For Russia! For the President."