2024 Russian presidential election (Grand Chessboard)

The 8th Russian presidential election occurred on 10 September 2024, resulting in Dmitry Gudkov of the opposition Party of Changes winning with 54% of the vote. His opponents were Sergey Naryshkin (United Russia), Pavel Grudinin (Communist Party), Alexei Navalny (independent), Maxim Suraikin (Communists of Russia), and Dmitry Nossov (independent). According to Article 81 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, incumbent President Vladimir Putin was not eligible to run.

There were widespread allegations of election fraud. Navalny claimed that he won the majority of the vote and accused Gudkov of making a deal with the authorities, particularly with the members of President Putin's inner circle, to rig the vote in his favor. They agreed to this since the 'establishment' Naryshkin candidate was too unpopular to win, and Gudkov was an opposition figure who was willing to be more cooperative with them to some degree. Regardless, Gudkov was inaugurated as President on October 15, 2024.