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LONDON: Russian anti-war politician Boris Nadezhdin said on Monday that he had left the country for the time being, weeks after Moscow designated him a “foreign agent” and disqualified him from running in a parliamentary election.
“Hi everyone! I have some good news. I’m alive and free. Unfortunately, I’m not in Russia at the moment,” Nadezhdin, standing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, said in a short video posted on Telegram.
“Right now, I need to get my bearings and figure out what to do next. Ill write about my plans later.” Nadezhdin, 63, a former liberal lawmaker, has been an outspoken critic of Moscow’s war in Ukraine but like some other opposition politicians had tried to work within the rules of Russia’s tightly controlled political system to be able to continue to voice his views publicly.
His departure marks the loss of yet another prominent opposition voice willing to challenge the Kremlin from inside Russia, with most critics of President Vladimir Putin now either in jail or in exile.
