“Everyone should have their own Zelenskyy!” my interlocutors joke as they talk through the “political technologies” being used in their constituencies. I’m talking to Konstantin Reyutsky, Ivetta Kuzmina and Yevhenii Vasyliev, who are running as candidates in Luhansk in this Sunday’s parliamentary elections. In all three constituencies in the eastern region where they are standing, these activists - who are members of Vostok-SOS, an NGO working in eastern Ukraine - are competing with namesakes of Ukraine’s new president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was elected in April with a record number of votes.
In Konstantin Reyutsky’s constituency, for example, there are two candidates with the surname Zelenskyy, as well as two Kurilos, two Lukashevs and three Struks. Each of these surnames belongs to a regional politician, and each one has at least one “double” candidate competing against him.
This is a normal practice in Ukraine, the war in the east hasn’t brought any new political strategies. Double candidates are used to draw votes away from potential poll leaders, although in some cases they do the reverse and help promote the real candidate, taking all the “dirty work” on themselves and then withdrawing their candidacy.
