Putin used the image of Peter I in the election campaign

Vladimir Putin's election campaign signs in Russian cities have begun using images of local landmarks instead of photographs of the candidate. In Moscow it is the Kremlin, and in St. Petersburg it is the monument to Peter I. The choice of landmark for St. Petersburg turned out to be symbolic, because the president himself has repeatedly compared himself to the first Russian emperor.

Details . The banners placed on the streets of St. Petersburg depict the Bronze Horseman - a monument to Peter I by sculptor Etienne Falconet. The photograph of the monument was taken in the summer. There is no image of the candidate himself on the banners, writes Rotunda.

• Photos of posters from other cities can be seen in the story of Channel One. In Novosibirsk this is the Sibir-Arena ice arena, in Voronezh - Petrovskaya Embankment, which is planned to be completed only by September 1. Moreover, in the campaign before the 2018 elections, the image of the candidate himself was used on banners .
• In 2016 , a law was passed prohibiting candidates from using images of other famous people in their campaigning. At the same time, the Central Election Commission in the same year allowed the Communist Party of the Russian Federation to use the image of Joseph Stalin in campaigning, explaining that the law implies a ban on the use of images of living people.

Context . Vladimir Putin has repeatedly compared himself to Peter I. “The Sea of ​​Azov has become an internal sea of ​​the Russian Federation. This is serious stuff. Peter I was still fighting for access to the Sea of ​​Azov,” the president said on December 8, 2022 about the results of the “special operation.” Putin compared himself to the emperor in June of the same year, noting that Peter “returned” the original Russian lands. “Apparently, it also fell to our lot to return and strengthen,” Putin noted. In addition, in Vladimir Putin’s office there is a portrait of Peter I hanging on the wall.

• The governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Beglov, also compared Putin to the first Russian emperor. In June 2023, he said that the Russian president “continues the work of Peter, defends the same values.” And in December, he said that Putin surpassed the emperor because he built a complex to protect the city from natural disasters: “Peter tried to protect the city, and the president protected it.”