Anti-war politician and Kremlin critic Boris Nadezhdin flees Russia for France
Russian opposition politician Boris Nadezhdin, known for his anti-war stance, announced Monday he has left Russia, saying in a video from Paris that he is alive and free.
Kremlin critic leaves Russia
Russian opposition politician Boris Nadezhdin, who was recently detained near Moscow and barred from running in parliamentary elections, said on Monday he had left the country. In a video posted on his Telegram channel, with the Eiffel Tower in the background, the 63-year-old former liberal lawmaker said he was alive and free, though not in Russia. He added that he needed to find his bearings and figure out how to move forward, promising to outline his plans later.
Nadezhdin was one of the few prominent critics of President Vladimir Putin and Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine who had remained in Russia. Most of Putin’s opponents are currently imprisoned, in exile, or dead. He had hoped to stand in the tightly controlled parliamentary elections scheduled for September.
As his campaign intensified last month, authorities designated him a "foreign agent," briefly detained him, and fined him 1,000 rubles (about $13) for displaying "extremist symbols." During the court hearing, his blood pressure spiked, and paramedics were called. The pressure, which would have technically prevented him from running, led him to withdraw from the race. He said at the time that he had been "silenced" and "pushed out of politics."
Nadezhdin had been campaigning for a seat in Dolgoprudny, a town outside Moscow. The previous month, he told AFP that authorities were targeting him because they were "nervous" about his popularity. He previously ran for president in 2024, gathering tens of thousands of signatures before being disqualified.
Russia has intensified its crackdown on dissent since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
