Boris Nadezhdin close to fighting against Vladimir Putin, Kremlin downplays anti-war Presidential candidate

By Team Asianet Newsable | First Published Jan 24, 2024, 5:51 PM IST

Boris Nadezhdin is emerging as the strongest opposition leader among the current crop to take on the incumbent Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin has downplayed the Putin critic ahead of the elections. The general elections in Russia are set to take place from March 15 to March 17.

Russia will have its general elections in March as Vladimir Putin is yet to face a strong opponent. Boris Nadezhdin, a key figure in the opposition is inching closer towards fighting against President Vladimir Putin. The anti-war Presidential candidate is a popular figure in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Russian constitution allows anyone to stand for the Presidential election if the candidate reaches 100,000 signatures across 40 regions in the world's biggest country. Boris Nadezhdin has already surpassed the mark of 100,000 signatures for his candidacy but he is yet to get support from other regions to reach the mark of 40.

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Boris Nadezhdin garnered a majority of his candidacy signatures from Moscow and St. Petersburg where he enjoys a little popularity. The former opposition lawmaker has time till only the end of January to qualify as a candidate against Vladimir Putin. A large faction in Russia’s opposition is against Putin's war against Ukraine.

Boris Nadezhdin is trying to fight the upcoming general elections on the anti-war sentiment across many places in the country. He has publicly criticized Vladimir Putin and his close Kremlin circle for the war that has provided a massive blow to the Russian economy under the growing global sanctions list. The Russian economy shrank by 1.2 percent in 2022 according to state statistics service Rosstat.

The Kremlin has downplayed Putin's latest opponent ahead of the March elections. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov when asked about Boris Nadezhdin said: "Not at all, we don't see him as a rival. Any citizen has the right to run for president if they meet a number of conditions.” Despite Boris Nadezhdin’s possible candidacy, Vladimir Putin is looking at another six-year term in Moscow.

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