The 63-year-old local politician rose to prominence in Russia after he previously attempted to run against Vladimir Putin in the 2024 presidential election on a pro-peace manifesto. Last month, Nadezhdin said he would stand as an independent candidate at the upcoming State Duma elections in September. JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. However, after several incidents with the Russian authorities, he was banned from collecting public signatures needed to support his candidacy. “They are silencing me, forcing me out of politics and making my life increasingly difficult,” Nadezhdin said on Sunday on the Telegram messaging app, as reported by the Moscow Times. “I am not willing to put at risk those who support me and took part in the election campaign — my family, my campaign team, the signature collectors and my supporters,” he said, adding that his team would not submit the signatures it had already collected. Punished for ‘extremist symbols’ On Friday, Nadezhdin was fined 1,000 rubles (€11.17) by a judge for for displaying “extremist symbols”. His lawyer said the case stemmed from a social media post linking to a video that included a photo of the late opposition politician Alexei Navalny, whose Anti-Corruption Foundation is banned in Russia as an extremist movement. Nadezhdin was also declared a “foreign agent” two weeks ago, a Soviet-era label carrying connotations of spying that bars him from political office. He was detained and questioned on Monday, and later forbidden to leave Russia.