The Justice Ministry has approved the registration of a nationalist group led by opposition politician-turned-envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin that is expected to ally itself with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s All-Russia People’s Front.
Rogozin, de-facto leader of the pubic group called Rodina-Congress of Russian Communities, announced its registration on his Twitter account Friday. “Congratulations to my teammates, followers and associates,” he said. “We did it!”
The group’s nominal leader, Alexei Zhuravlyov, said in comments published Friday in Vedomosti that the group planned to join the All-Russia People’s Front at its congress in September.
United Russia is wrapping up joint primaries with the All-Russia People’s Front for candidates for the party list this week, which means that Rodina will not be able to run in them. But some members of the group, including Zhuravlyov, are running in the primaries as independents, Vedomosti reported last month. In addition, Putin, who heads United Russia, has the authority to bypass the results of the primaries and personally name candidates.
In May, the Justice Ministry registered a group called simply Congress of Russian Communities, also led by Rogozin. Its relationship with the new Rodina is unclear. Rogozin headed a political party called Rodina in the early 2000s.
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