Vladimir Putin will only stand against 'the most obedient dummy Kremlin rivals' who've been handpicked for him to beat in the upcoming election that has been labelled a sham, a political expert claims.

He has sensationally gone as far as to claim that the 71-year-old, who's ruled the country since 2010, could romp home even if he was in a coma.

And next year, it's looking like he'll extend his time at the top by another six years, enforcing his rules and philosophies over the Russian people until at least 2030.

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His advisory team are supposedly already in the midst of preparing his presidential campaign for the election that will take place in March. He's expected to emerge victorious with the support of the state and no backlash from the media or the public, at least on the surface.

With the country currently going through a war with Ukraine, the Kremlin are set to back Putin to the hill, believing that he's the man to guide them through the precarious situation.

And while others will stand against him, it doesn't look like there are any genuine contenders to take him down. Supposedly, the Kremlins do not want anyone under the age of 50 to run.

Gennadiy Zyuganov, 79, from the Communist Party, Leonid Slutsky, 55, from the Liberal Democratic Party and Alexei Nechaev, 57, of the New People party are reportedly the preferable choices.

However, in an interview with the Sun, Kyiv-based political strategist Jason Jay Smart, claimed that the trio of "Kremlin loyalists" will let Putin win with ease in the "farce" elections, adding that they will "Not actually pose a threat to Putin."

He said: "Historically, presidential candidates against Putin usually just say they agree with him, in almost every position. They never offer something alternative. Their objective is not to win the election, but to demonstrate a show of democracy.

"Zyuganov has run every presidential election since the 90s. He is a Kremlin loyalist – as are the other two. I doubt they’ll do any sort of public events, really – maybe some nominal ones to show that there was a campaign, per se."

Back in 2008, Zyganov bagged a sizeable 17% of the vote, which rose to 18% in 2012. However, if anyone looked like presenting a genuine threat, Smart claims the Kremlin would take a stand, even going as far as to say that if Putin couldn't run, the vote would be fixed.

The expert said: "Even if he was totally comatosed, those around him could still be running the country in a way that would be favourable to their own interests – and also to his. The chances of someone beating him in an election is less than zero."

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The academic stressed: "As someone who has spent their life studying Russia as a criminologist, I will tell you that I have never heard someone say that they expect anyone to beat Putin in a democratic election."

The situation has even been discussed by the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, who said that no one is capable of competing with Putin, and Smart believes that statement sums up the state of the Russian political system.

He asserted: “The elections are a farce. To expect an outcome other than Putin winning is naive at best. The Kremlin have changed the constitution a number of times to make it easier for Putin, and that includes changing the term on it."

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