Tattooed beauty blogger ‘allowed’ to stand against Putin in election | World News
A tattooed beauty influencer and shaman-admirer who is fond of posing nude has been cleared to fight Vladimir Putin in the Russian presidential election in March.
Rada Russkikh, 39, a self-confessed cosmetic surgery addict labelled a ‘freak candidate’, is being allowed to stand when genuine anti-war, pro-democracy challengers are banned.
Serious foes of the dictator have been jailed or exiled to keep them off the ballot paper, with Putin understood to personally vet candidates permitted to compete with him – and lose without fuss.
Make-up artist Russkikh openly admits she is not actually interested in taking Putin’s job, despite standing as a candidate against him, indicating the sham nature of the upcoming elections in which her only role is to make the dictator seem normal and competent in comparison.
Russkikh’s key critique of Putin is his running of the economy, claiming the war – which she seldom mentions – has only made things worse.
‘I understand perfectly well why the world complains so much about Russians, because we don’t give this world anything except beautiful women and good makeup artists at the moment,’ she said.
’We can no longer hide behind Russian classical literature, [Yuri] Gagarin [the first man in space], and help to all countries in past wars, because that was a very long time ago.
‘Now we do not produce anything for the world, we only consume….
’It’s time for Russians to grow up and start producing something, just like adults.’
Russkikh is also known for her strong interest in plastic surgery, having gone under the knife 16 times so far.
‘I feel like a thoroughbred now,’ she said, in reference to her extensive procedures.
’I’ve had 16 surgeries….
’I mean I did the hips, I did the bum, I did liposuction.
’So we did a nice waistline right away….I did this perfect belly, this vertical belly button.
’I did my boobs, I did my arms, a little bit of polishing.
‘Then I had my nose done, a little bit of sanding.
’I had two endoscopies.
’I tried to lift my eyebrows up, then I tried to lift them sideways.’
As for her manifesto, she said: ‘I’m not aiming for the highest position.
’I just want to deal with the areas that are understandable and known to me, being a good anti-crisis manager….
‘I am a woman, and I am interested in order, comfort and safety.
’I am attracted to renewable resources.’
She is also against oil and gas, which remain Russia’s two biggest exports despite western sanctions.
’I want to preserve the heritage, architecture and traditions.’
She also said: ‘I laugh so hard when they tell me to stop competing with men as to whose dick is bigger.
‘I know very well that I have the hardest and biggest mental dick…and balls of steel.
Russkikh claims to be an admirer of shamans, but once had a bad experience with husband and wife Magua and Tina, ritualistic ‘healers’, during a trip to Mexico.
She claimed the pair heard voices tell them to kill her, and that she was lucky to escape.
The shaman couple were exonerated by Russian law enforcement amid suspicions he had been poisoned by toad venom triggering a heart attack.
Russkikh has almost 700,000 followers on several platforms – and was accepted as a candidate by the Central Election Commission.
She must now gather 300,000 signatures backing her to be able to fight Putin, a hurdle she is expected to clear.
Russian Telegram channel Temnik revealed her candidacy is part of a cynical Kremlin plan and she ‘serves several purposes’.
‘Rada Russkikh is a typical freak candidate,’ said the channel.
’She attracts additional attention to the campaign, improves the image of other candidates [including Putin] by contrast, and also emphasises the presence of competition in the elections.’
An outspoken anti-war candidate Ekaterina Duntsova, 40, was blocked from standing due to alleged irregularities in her nomination.
This was reported to be on Kremlin orders.
Russkikh meanwhile- whose blog covers beauty, health, psychology, money, ecology, private life, business, and marketing – had her ‘irregularities’ forgiven, as did Putin.
Among other potential anti-Putin candidates effectively barred from standing – Alexei Navalny, 47, is jailed for another 19 years, as is Kremlin foe and UK passport-holder Vladimir Kara-Murza, 41, who was sentenced in April to a draconian 25 years in prison for supposed ‘reason’ and criticising Vladimir Putin’s illegal war against Ukraine.
Another opposition heavyweight Mikhail Khodorkovsky, 60, previously imprisoned in Russia on bogus charges, is now living in exile in the UK.
Former deputy premier Boris Nemtsov – a high profile opposition leader – was murdered near the Kremlin, aged 55, in 2015.
The mastermind behind his brutal killing has never been found.
Another candidate might have been Wagner mercenary army founder Yevguney Prigozhin, but he died in a plane crash in August 2023 aged 62, in what is believed to have been a Kremlin-inspired assassination of a former Putin crony.
Several minor candidates will be registered to fight against Putin along with dullard nominees from the main political parties in Russia, none of whom are expected to clear 10 per cent of the vote.
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