In Russia, war and fear trouble one presidential hopeful

Cars drive along the embankment of Moskva river by towers of the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia November 23, 2020. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Yekaterina Duntsova, who wants to run for president, said the Kremlin should end the conflict in Ukraine, free political prisoners and undertake major reform to halt the slide towards a new era of "barbed wire" division between Russia and the West.

Nearly 32 years since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union stoked hopes that Russia would blossom into an open democracy, Duntsova, 40, said she was afraid as she spoke to Reuters in Moscow.