Vladimir Putin will use election to show war-weary Russia he’s still calling the shots

The veneer of democracy is important to Putin so that he can show the political class that the public support his campaign in Ukraine. Photograph: Sergey Guneyev/AFP/Getty Images

In news that likely shocked no one, Vladimir Putin last month announced that he will seek a fifth presidential term in the upcoming March elections.

In a country where Putin, 71, has come to dominate Russia’s political system and the media over the past two decades, the outcome will probably leave little room for imagination.