MOSCOW — A Russian politician running on an anti-war platform is accusing authorities of deliberately working to shut down his campaign for a seat in the country’s parliament.
Boris Nadezhdin, who was previously blocked from challenging Vladimir Putin in Russia’s 2024 presidential race, is now attempting to collect enough signatures from supporters to qualify as a candidate for the Duma — parliament’s lower house — ahead of September elections.
Last Friday, the Russian government designated Nadezhdin a “foreign agent,” a label that carries strong implications of espionage and is used by Moscow against individuals it considers to be engaged in anti-Russian activities. Then on Monday, police brought him in for questioning related to a social media post that allegedly contained a link to content deemed “extremist.”
Speaking with Reuters on Monday evening, Nadezhdin said the government’s actions were clearly intended to silence him and prevent him from campaigning on issues including internet censorship, gasoline shortages, and Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
“They wanted to ensure that, God forbid, Nadezhdin didn’t end up in the Duma doing the same thing he’s been doing all along: saying the war must stop, that Russia needs normal development and a return to a normal human life, rather than what’s happening now,” he said.
“The goal is simple: take me out of the game, prevent me from getting into the State Duma, and stop me from running a campaign — for peace, for freedom, and for things like having the internet and gasoline, at the end of the day.”
In a video released this week, Nadezhdin called for an end to what he described as a “completely senseless fratricidal war,” and urged that the conflict be frozen along its current front lines.
Speaking out against the war carries serious risks in Russia, where the Kremlin has dramatically increased its crackdown on dissent over the four-and-a-half years since the Ukraine conflict began.
While the pro-Putin United Russia party is widely expected to win the Duma elections by a comfortable margin, the campaign period tends to offer opposition voices slightly more room to speak publicly than usual.
The liberal Yabloko party, which has called for a ceasefire, has put forward hundreds of candidates for the Duma, though it is not expected to win any seats. Last month, the party’s deputy chairman, Maxim Kruglov, was sentenced to seven years in prison after being convicted of spreading false information about the Russian military.
Nadezhdin, who is 63 years old, is scheduled to appear in court this Friday for a hearing related to the alleged extremist content link — a charge he called “ridiculous.” He noted that because of an existing heart condition, even a short time behind bars could put his life in danger.
Despite the pressure, Nadezhdin posted a defiant message on Telegram on Tuesday: “We’re hanging in there, we’re not losing heart!”
