Political controversies in Russia

Pussy Riot is a Russian feminist protest punk rock and performance art group based in Moscow. Founded in August 2011, it has had a variable membership of approximately 11 women  ranging in age from about 20 to 33 (as of 2012). The group staged unauthorized provocative guerrilla performances in public places, performances that were filmed as music videos and posted on the Internet. The group's lyrical themes included feminism, LGBT rights, opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his policies, and Putin's links to the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky (25 April 1946 – 6 April 2022) was a Russian politician and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia. He has been described as fiercely nationalist and as "a showman of Russian politics, blending populist and nationalist rhetoric, anti-Western invective and a brash, confrontational style".

Lena Alekseevna Hades (Russian: Лена Алексеевна Хейдиз; born October 2, 1959) is a Russian artist, writer and art theorist of Jewish origin.

Sergei Ivanovich Vasiliev (in Russian: Сергей Иванович Васильев; born in 1961 in St. Petersburg, Russia) is a member company of the Guild of Purveyors to the Kremlin and owner of Soyuz Corporation.

Konstantin Viktorovich Altunin (Russian: Константин Викторович Алтунин, born December 21, 1967) is a Russian painter from Arkhangelsk, Russia. He left Russia following a controversy after a painting of Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev in women’s underwear had been seized by St. Petersburg authorities. He has been exhibiting paintings since 2000.

Starting from July 2019 numerous approved and unapproved rallies in Moscow (also known as part of the political crisis) began, caused by the situation with the 2019 Moscow City Duma elections. Widespread public protests were triggered by numerous authorities' violations, claimed by the independent opposition candidates, during the registration procedure. Rallies on Sakharov Avenue on 20 July and 10 August 2019 became the largest political rallies in Russia since the 2011–2013 protests. The July 27 rally established a record on number of detainees: 1373 people were detained. The subsequent appeals of the MCEC's decisions to the CEC by the independent candidates didn't lead to any results.

The 2011–2013 Russian protests, which some English language media referred to as the Snow Revolution (Russian: Снежная революция, Snezhnaya revolyutsiya), began in 2011 (as protests against the 2011 Russian legislative election results) and continued into 2012 and 2013. The protests were motivated by claims of Russian and foreign journalists, political activists and members of the public that the election process was fraudulent. The Central Election Commission of Russia stated 11.5% of official reports of fraud could be confirmed as true.

Election to the 7th convocation of the Moscow City Duma took place on the United Voting Day on 8 September 2019. The elections were held under first-past-the-post voting system, which saw 45 deputies being elected in their respective single-member districts amidst the 2019 Moscow protests, which saw huge rallies in support of independent opposition candidates. The term of the new Duma will be five years.

Presidential elections were held in Russia on 16 June 1996, with a second round being held on 3 July 1996. It resulted in a victory for the incumbent Russian president Boris Yeltsin, who ran as an independent politician. Yeltsin defeated the Communist Party of the Russian Federation challenger Gennady Zyuganov in the second round, receiving 54.4% of the vote. Yeltsin's second inauguration ceremony took place on 9 August 1996.

Legislative elections were held in Russia on 18 September 2016, having been brought forward from 4 December. At stake were the 450 seats in the State Duma of the 7th convocation, the lower house of the Federal Assembly. Prior to the election United Russia had been the ruling party since winning the 2011 elections with 49.32% of the vote, and taking 238 seats (53%) of the seats in the State Duma.