There is little doubt about the outcome, should he run, but the election in March carries more significance as the first one since the invasion of Ukraine.
Just as the news broke Wednesday of the presumed death of mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, President Vladimir Putin of Russia was presiding over a televised World War II anniversary ceremony on a dark stage lit dramatically in red. He held a moment of silence, flanked by service members in dress uniforms, while a metronome’s beats sounded, like the slow ticking of a clock: Tock. Tock. Tock. The eerie split screen — the reported fiery demise of the man who launched an armed rebellion in June an