Two Candidates Withdrew One After Another From United Russia’s Primaries in Smolensk. One of Them Is ...

Two candidates withdrew one after another from United Russia’s primaries in Smolensk withdrew one after another. One of them is former vice speaker Sergey Neverov, who has been serving in the State Duma for more than 20 years

United Russia’s primaries (preliminary voting) are being held to select candidates for the State Duma elections, which will take place in the fall of 2026.

Deputy and former State Duma vice speaker Sergey Neverov had planned to take part in these primaries in the Smolensk single-mandate district, but on May 14 he withdrew and urged people to support another party representative instead, 28-year-old war participant Artyom Kornyuchenkov.

However, on May 19 Kornyuchenkov also withdrew, explaining that “as of today there is an important task of forming a veteran community in Smolensk Region,” and that this is “difficult work.”

Neverov commented on it this way:

The district has been surrendered. Our candidate, participant in the special military operation Artyom Kornyuchenkov, has withdrawn his candidacy from the preliminary voting. Yes, politics is not a battlefield: everything here is more sophisticated. Nobody cares about the opinion of the people of Smolensk, and the results of United Russia’s preliminary voting in Smolensk Region no longer matter to anyone.

According to sources of RBC, Vedomosti, and BBC Russian Service, another representative is seeking this district: A Just Russia’s first deputy chairman and State Duma vice speaker Aleksandr Babakov. The BBC calls Babakov one of A Just Russia’s sponsors; he is one of that party’s richest and most influential deputies.

Sergey Neverov has been serving in the State Duma since 1999. He was vice speaker of the lower house of parliament from 2021 to 2024, head of the United Russia faction from 2017 to 2021, and secretary of the party’s general council from 2011 to 2017. In the 2016 and 2021 convocations, Neverov was elected from the Smolensk single-mandate district.

@meduzalive