Call to 'Eradicate Rotten' Putin Opponents Triggers Russian Police Probe

Russia is investigating a politician and Kremlin propagandist after he said on state TV that everyone who doesn't vote for Vladimir Putin in the 2024 presidential election should be killed.

Andrey Gurulyov, a Russian parliament (Duma) member and former military commander, made the remarks during a segment of the program "Sunday Evening with Vladimir Solovyov," on state television channel Russia-1 on October 15. He said Russians who don't support Putin should be "if not isolated, then at least eradicated," calling those who oppose the president "rotten."

His remarks come as Russia's 2024 presidential election looms, with the first round scheduled to be held on March 17. Putin is expected to announce his bid for another term soon, and following constitutional changes made prior to the war in Ukraine, the leader may remain in power until 2036.

Presidential elections are held every six years in Russia.

Russia's Prosecutor General's Office said it would investigate Gurulyov after an appeal was lodged over his remarks by both Boris Vishnevsky, deputy leader of the liberal Yabloko party, and Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russian newspaper.

Vishnevsky said that Gurulyov's remarks on October 15 were "aimed not just at inciting hatred based on political enmity, but at undermining a number of provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation."

Yabloko is a social-liberal party that has deputies in five regional parliaments: Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Pskov region, Karelia and Kostroma. Yabloko St. Petersburg published the Prosecutor General's Office's response to its appeal on social media, which said: "You will be notified of the decision made."

Newsweek has contacted Russia's foreign ministry via email for comment.

Putin said in September that he would announce whether he will run for reelection in 2024 after the ballot is officially announced later in the year.

"According to the law, parliament must make a decision at the end of the year," Putin said at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. "When the elections are announced, when the date is set, then we will talk about it."

In August, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying that Russia's presidential election is "not really democracy" and forecast a 90 percent victory for Putin next year.

"Our presidential election is not really democracy; it is costly bureaucracy," Peskov told The New York Times in an article published on August 6. "Mr. Putin will be reelected next year with more than 90 percent of the vote."

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