Zyuganov re-elected head of Russian communist party

MOSCOW -- Gennady Zyuganov has been unanimously re-elected chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the party announced on Saturday.

The re-election took place at the first organizational plenum of the Central Committee following the 19th CPRF Congress. "On Saturday, July 5, Gennady Zyuganov was unanimously elected chairman of the CPRF Central Committee," the party said in a statement posted on its official Telegram channel.

In addition to Zyuganov's reappointment, Ivan Melnikov, first deputy speaker of the State Duma, and Yuri Afonin, first deputy chairman of the Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption, were also reappointed as first deputy chairmen of the party's central committee.

Zyuganov has led the CPRF since its founding in 1993. The party, one of Russia's five parliamentary factions, has maintained a presence in the State Duma since its inception.