Opposition politician Boris Nadezhdin, who criticized Russia’s war in Ukraine and tried to challenge President Vladimir Putin in the 2024 election, said Monday he has left Russia, a move that follows a crackdown that barred him from a race for parliament this year. Nadezhdin, 63, shared a video on Telegram, showing him standing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.“Good news: I’m alive and free. Unfortunately, not in Russia for the time being,” he said, adding that he needs “to look around and figure out life going forward.” In July, a Russian court fined Nadezhdin about $13 for displaying “extremist symbols,” charges that he rejected as absurd. The accusations stemmed from a 2023 online video that briefly showed a picture of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, convicted of extremism in a case widely seen as politically motivated.
Earlier that month, Nadezhdin also was designated a “foreign agent” — a label that brings additional government scrutiny as well as stigmatizing connotations in Russia.That and a fine on an extremism-related charge barred him from running in September’s parliamentary vote, which is expected to be tightly controlled by the Kremlin. The ruling United Russia party is seeking to preserve its dominance in the lower house of parliament in a race against the Communist Party and a couple of other parties that vote in sync with the Kremlin on key issues. The campaign comes amid signs of growing public fatigue with the war in Ukraine as fuel shortages and economic pain increase, an environment that reduces the authorities’ tolerance for even token opposition.
