Boris Nadezhdin, a Russian politician and an opponent of the war who had hoped to run in parliamentary elections later this year, announced that he was withdrawing from his role in opposition politics for the time being, citing "politically motivated legal obstacles" to his candidacy for MP, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
The 63-year-old liberal Nadezhdin, a former MP, is an outspoken opponent of the war Moscow is waging in Ukraine. But like some other opposition politicians, he is trying to work within the rules of Russia's tightly controlled political system to be able to continue to publicly voice his views, the agency noted.
In a statement, Nadezhdin said his political career had ended after the authorities placed a series of obstacles in his way. On Friday, a court ordered him to pay a small fine for "extremist symbols" in public, and earlier this month he was declared a "foreign agent" by Russia's Justice Ministry.
The two court rulings rule out his running in September's elections for the State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament (Federal Assembly), Nadezhdin noted. He added that he was also banned from leaving the country.
“They are silencing me, forcing me to leave politics and making my life extremely difficult“, Nadezhdin said. “For me, the possibilities for legal participation in opposition politics in Russia have run out“, he concluded.
Pro-Kremlin politicians accuse the West of trying to destabilize the country ahead of the election and argue that the partial censorship is necessary to preserve national unity at a time when Russia is facing the question of its existence in the war with Ukraine, Reuters points out.