Anti-war politician Boris Nadezhdin was briefly detained north of Moscow on Monday and charged with displaying “extremist” symbols, just days after Russia’s Justice Ministry designated him a “foreign agent.”
In a brief message on his Telegram channel, Nadezhdin wrote that he was being taken to a police station in the town of Dolgoprudny, located around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Russian capital.
After his release later that evening, Nadezhdin revealed that police charged him with the administrative offense of displaying “extremist” symbols for sharing a link to a video that contained an image of the late opposition activist Alexei Navalny.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Friday so that a judge can formally read the charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 days in prison.
Nadezhdin is currently trying to run for office in the State Duma elections this September. Dolgoprudny, his hometown, is among the places where his campaign team has been collecting signatures to help him qualify for the ballot.
Despite his designation as a “foreign agent” on Friday, a status that legally bars individuals from running for any elected office in Russia, Nadezhdin has vowed to press forward with his signature collection drive.
Nadezhdin, who was previously a State Duma lawmaker from 1999 to 2003, saw his political star rise in early 2024 when he tried to run in Russia’s 2024 presidential election on a pro-peace platform. Election authorities ultimately barred him from running on technical grounds.
For the State Duma elections this September, Nadezhdin said he plans to campaign on a platform advocating for a “return to normal life,” though he has admitted that authorities could move to disqualify him once again.
