Russian politician and opponent of the war in Ukraine Boris Nadezhdin, who tried to run against President Vladimir Putin in the 2024 presidential election, said on Monday he had been detained by police. This came days after he was named a “foreign agent“ by authorities, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Nadezhdin - a former liberal member of the Russian parliament from 1999 to 2003, wrote on the Telegram app: “The police have come“. He then added that he had been taken to a police station in his hometown of Dolgoprudny, north of Moscow.
Russian media quoted Nadezhdin's lawyer as saying that the politician was accused of displaying an extremist symbol. It is not yet clear what the symbol was.
Nadezhdin, who is opposed to the war in Ukraine, tried to register as a candidate in Russia's 2024 presidential election but was blocked by the Election Commission. The refusal was justified by the presence of invalid signatures among the 105,000 signatures he submitted.
On Friday, Nadezhdin was designated a “foreign agent” by the Russian Ministry of Justice - a legal category widely used against Kremlin critics.