Russian opposition official Boris Nadezhdin, fined for "extremist symbols", said today that he was withdrawing from the race for parliamentary elections in September, saying he had been "silenced and excluded from politics".
Nadezhdin is one of the few people in Russia who has publicly condemned President Vladimir Putin and the offensive in Ukraine without being imprisoned.
"My ability to legally engage in opposition politics in Russia has been exhausted. I hope this is only temporary," Nadezhdin wrote on Telegram, explaining that under election law, his status as a "foreign agent" and the sentence he received precluded "any possibility of being elected to the Duma."
Nadezhdin (63)'s candidacy has been seriously threatened since he was declared a "foreign agent" last week, then briefly arrested and fined 1.000 rubles for "displaying extremist symbols."
During a chaotic hearing, marked by the defendant's fainting and the arrival of doctors, Nadezhdin, a former State Duma deputy (2000–2003), denounced the "sick state of the state," claiming that the charges against him were brought to prevent him from running.
He was persecuted because in 2023 he posted an advertisement on Telegram for a program hosted by another opposition figure, in which a photo of opposition leader Alexei Navalny briefly appeared.
Navalny and his organizations were labeled "extremist" before his death in prison in 2024. Since then, authorities have regularly accused individuals of promoting "extremism" for sharing Navalny's statements or even his photos.
"They are silencing me, pushing me out of politics, and my life has become much more difficult," Nadezhdin wrote on social media today, before thanking his supporters.
"Now I have to figure out how to continue living. I hope to stay alive and free. I'm sure everything will be okay, even if that 'okay' doesn't come right away," Nadezhdin added.
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