©picture alliance / Anadolu | Boris Nadezhdin Press Service /Handout
Russian opposition politician Boris Nadezhdin has sharply criticized President Vladimir Putin. According to him, the Kremlin is steering Russia toward chaos—and possibly even a catastrophe. He made these remarks on Wednesday during an interview in Dolgoproedny, a suburb of Moscow. Nadezhdin is one of the few Russian politicians who still speaks out publicly against Putin and the war in Ukraine without ending up in prison or fleeing the country.
The 63-year-old politician is scheduled to appear in court on Friday on charges of displaying extremist symbols. The case centers on a 2023 video that featured an image of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Nadezhdin was briefly detained and later released, but now faces up to fifteen days in jail. In addition, the Russian Ministry of Justice has labeled him a “foreign agent”, a label often used in Russia to marginalize critics. According to Nadezhdin, the government is attempting to block his political work in this way. He had planned to run in the parliamentary elections in September, but this plan is now under severe strain due to the new legal pressure.
Nadezhdin had already attempted to run in the 2024 presidential election, but his candidacy was rejected by the election commission at that time due to irregularities. Since the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian government has further intensified its repression. Hundreds of opponents of the war have been arrested, while others have since died or are living in exile. This makes Nadezhdin an exceptional figure in today’s Russia. After all, he is visible, critical, and still active, yet increasingly hemmed in by the state apparatus.
©picture alliance / Anadolu | Boris Nadezhdin Press Service /Handout