President Putin's challenger Yekaterina Duntsova barred from contesting elections. Here's why

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peace in Ukraine and with a vision of a “humane" Russia “that's peaceful, friendly and ready to cooperate with everyone on the principle of respect". After Central Election Commission rejected the nomination, Duntsova wrote on the Telegram messaging app, “On December 23, the Central Election Commission refused to register my initiative group." According to a Telegram channel close to Duntsova's campaign, the commission found 100 errors in her nomination papers, including mistakes in the spelling of names.

Meanwhile, the head of Russia's Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, said at the commission meeting, addressing Duntsova, “You are a young woman, you still have everything ahead of you. Any minus can always be turned into a plus," Duntsova plans to appeal the decision in Russia's Supreme Court and urges the Yabloko political party leaders to nominate her as a candidate.

Russian state media cited earlier Yabloko party founder and leader Grigory Yavlinsky would not run for the presidency, citing the party's press service. Speaking in a live interview on YouTube, once Duntsova's appeal to Yabloko became known, Yavlinsky said that he “didn't know" whether the party would consider her application.

Duntsova took her first steps toward candidate status on Sunday, when her run was endorsed by 500 supporters as required by Russian election law, and presented documents on Wednesday to Russia's Central Election Commission to register her nomination. A number of Russian parties also announced which candidates they would be backing in the presidential election next March – which incumbent President Vladimir Putin is all but certain to win.