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Torn down, painted over, stolen: how campaign materials of United Russia rivals are disappearing across Russia’s regions
Since voting began, new reports of campaign materials belonging to United Russia’s rivals being destroyed have emerged across Russia’s regions. Leaflets are being torn down from information boards, banners removed from buildings, and posters painted over.
🔸Vologda Oblast: In Cherepovets, a woman was seen removing Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) leaflets from an information board, putting them in her bag, and replacing them with United Russia campaign materials. When asked why she was doing this, the woman began hiding her face and calling someone.
🔸Khakassia: The campaign headquarters of Nina Leonchenko, a CPRF candidate for head of the Ust-Abakansky District, reported that unknown individuals had torn down a campaign banner installed on a private garage in the village of Kurgannaya. Two masked men used a long pole to remove the banner, and the incident was captured by a security camera.
🔸Khabarovsk Krai: Ruslan Batyu, a Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) candidate for the State Duma, said that several of his campaign banners had been torn down and stolen in Komsomolsk-on-Amur over the course of several days. He did not say who was responsible but linked the incidents to the election campaign.
🔸Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug: Residents of Nizhnevartovsk reported that unknown individuals were painting over candidates’ campaign leaflets, damaging property belonging to residential buildings in the process. In a video published by local activists, two men can be seen tearing down leaflets belonging to United Russia’s rivals.
🔸Novosibirsk Oblast: Anastasia Gerchuk, an LDPR candidate for the Berdsk Town Council, said that her campaign banner had been removed before the advertising space rental period expired and replaced with a billboard featuring Governor Andrey Travnikov, who heads United Russia’s regional list in the State Duma election. The replacement was explained as being due to the governor’s visit to the town.
Previously, Dmitry Aseyev, a Communist Party (CPRF) candidate in Samara Oblast, reported possible interference with the distribution of campaign materials. According to him, his leaflets in Kinel were covered with advertisements. When residents removed the advertisements, they discovered documents from the city administration on the reverse side, including diagrams of utility networks and infrastructure.
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