Boris Nadezhdin: Putin critic leaves Russia after he is barred from running for parliament

Opposition politician Boris Nadezhdin, who criticized Russia’s war in Ukraine and tried to challenge President Vladimir Putin in the 2024 election, said Monday that he had left Russia.

Opposition politician Boris Nadezhdin, who criticized Russia’s war in Ukraine and tried to challenge President Vladimir Putin in the 2024 election, said Monday that he had 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, who was convicted of extremism in a case widely seen as politically motivated.

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