Boris Nadezhdin seeks to run in the March 17 presidential election in Russia. The question now is whether authorities will allow him on the ballot.
The stocky, bespectacled 60-year-old local legislator and academic has struck a chord with the public, openly calling for a halt to the conflict in Ukraine, the end of mobilizing Russian men for the military, and starting a dialogue with the West. He also has criticized the country’s repression of LGBTQ+ activism.
Even if he ends up on the ballot, there’s no way in hell that he will get fair elections and does have any chance of ousting Putin. Putin has killed a lot of Russians to get into the positions he’s currently in to give it up now.