An update on the Joachim Crima “Obama” story. Russian press reports on Sept. 2 that his candidacy for the Srednyaya Akhtuba district chief has been officially registered. Elections are scheduled for October 11.

Some recent background by Russian journalist blogger Samson Sholademi, left, shaking hands with Crima, right. The following is a direct translation of Sholademi’s original blog post …

After Joachim Crima (a.k.a. Vasily Ivanovich) announced his unwavering intentions to win the elections and become the new district chief of the Srednyaya Akhtuba district in the Volgograd region he has encountered a mass of problems.

The local administration has gone into top gear in order not to allow victory for the colourful out-of-the ordinary politician of village proportions. Over the last week and a half, all of Crima’s campaign advertisements have been taken down, he is no longer invited on local television, problems with the voter signatures list are being addressed. Even a spoiler has appeared — Filipp Kondryatev a mulatto from the Moscow region who will play in the same electoral “dark-skinned” field and take away part of the vote.

But thanks to numerous Western and Russian journalists who have taken interest in the “Volgograd Obyma” phenomenon, the information blockade around the Guinea-Bissau emigrant is breaking down.

And I make my humble contribution, I ask for the moral support of Vasily Ivanovich:

Video transcript:

Samson Sholademi (SS): Now we are in Volgograd, I have come to meet with Vasily Ivanovich, the first dark-skinned candidate for the chief of the local administration of the Srednyaya Akhtuba district and the district Duma. With us right now is… Could you say, who besides us is waiting to take your interview? It’s a German TV channel, right?

Joachim Crima (JC): Yes, yes.

SS to German TV crew: Do you have any words about you television channel? What are you filming for?

TV crew: For the first time in Russian practice, a dark-skinned candidate is running for a local office. It’s interesting for European viewers.

SS: Are you aware that there is a second dark-skinned candidate here? Have you spoken with him?

TV crew: Yes, yes, we spoke with him.

SS: Is he here now?

TV crew: He was here this morning, but left to do some personal errands.

SS to camera: As we have made clear, there are two candidates. When I drove here by car I spoke with the taxi driver. I joked a little — you have two and I will be the third candidate. But he got a bit uptight. Right now I think there are around nine candidates trying to become the district chief and let me remind the elections will be on October 11. So, let’s continue our interview…

SS to JC: As I understand you, you, how long have you been a member of United Russia?

JC: Two years.

SS: Two years. But in spite of this the party is not supporting you in this election bid?

JC: No, they’re not supporting.

SS: What about breaking with the general party line, no problem? United Russia has a main candidate, and then you appear. What about that? What’s your appraisal?

JC: Repeat the question please.

SS: That United Russia already has an official candidate. And you are kind of going against the party, some type of stubbornness on your part?

JC: The thing is that… district chief specifically?

SS: Yes yes, district chief.

JC: The party isn’t supporting anybody. There isn’t a single person the party sees as district chief. Therefore all the United Russia candidate are in fact independent candidates.

SS: I see. A few days ago all your election posters throughout the district were taken down. Why?

JC: That’s a very interesting question. To this point I still don’t understand why my posters were taken down throughout the district. On what grounds were they taken down?

SS: Did you file a complaint to the police or the election commission, or somewhere else?

JC: You have to understand that now I am concentrating on gathering signatures. When I finish gathering signatures I will deal with this question.

SS: You’re still gathering?

JC: Yes.

SS: How many signatures do you need to gather?

JC: About the signatures … for district chief, minimum 709, maximum 770. For district Duma deputy, from 41 to 45.

SS: Thousand?

JC: No, that is people. Excuse me.

JC to telephone: Hello, call me in about two hours ok, I’m with some people now. Be kind.

SS: Last question, about one of your competitors Filipp Kondryatev is from the Moscow region, yeah. What do you know about him?

JC: I haven’t seen him yet. I haven’t seen him yet. But I think it’s likely he knows about me because all of the Volgograd region knows about me.

SS: Do you consider him to be the competition?

JC: No, I don’t consider Filipp to be the competition.

SS: Who is the competition?

JC: My competition is likely bigger (laughs).

SS: Who?

JC: I think my competitors are Romanov and Kruztov.

SS: And the last one. When we drove in we saw some graffiti that said: “Khaventsev is a loser.” Who was that about? Which candidate, which competitor?

JC: You know, about Khaventsev, I still don’t know. I don’t know if he’s registered yet or not.

SS: But along the whole road…

JC: I don’t know maybe it’s his main tactic. Because everyone has their own tactics.

SS: Has anything offensive been written about you?

JC: No.  Well, there’s some in some places. Someone wrote that we here, for example, “White people, what do we need blacks here for?” But about these things I try not to react. I don’t react because it is a process of evolution. It is going on now. The sooner Russia gets into that process the better.

SS: Thanks for the meeting, let’s take picture together… Samson Sholademi and Vasily Ivanovich in Volgograd. I wish you luck.

JC: Thank you.

SS: Till the next meeting.