Communist Candidate Nikolai Kharitonov Approved to Run in Russian Presidential Election

Kharitonov, who has opposed some of Putin's domestic policies, joins two other candidates on the ballot for the March election.

Russia's national elections commission has registered Nikolai Kharitonov, the Communist Party's candidate, to compete in the upcoming presidential election.
Kharitonov, a member of the lower house of parliament, has opposed some of Putin's domestic policies but not Russia's military operation in Ukraine.
Kharitonov joins two other candidates who were approved for the ballot last week, Leonid Slutsky of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party and Vladislav Davankov of the New People Party.
Despite the Communist candidate typically receiving the second-highest vote tally, Kharitonov is not expected to present a significant challenge to Putin.
Putin, who is running as an independent, has dominated Russian politics since he was first elected to the presidency in 2000.