Prominent Kremlin opponent Boris Nadezhdin has filed the necessary paperwork to be considered for the March presidential election in Russia.
In an effort to legally challenge President Vladimir Putin, the 60-year-old local councillor—who has pledged to put an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine—announced on Wednesday that he had gathered more than 100,000 signatures of support from 40 regions. He submitted these signatures along with other supporting documentation to the Central Election Commission (CEC).
Next, electoral officials will verify the legitimacy of the signatures that Nadezhdin and other prospective contenders have provided. Next month, they will reveal Putin’s running mates for the March 15–17 polls.
The election authority has previously disqualified candidates after discovering what it said to be anomalies in signatures or documentation that they had gathered.
According to his supporters, Putin has already gathered more than 3.5 million signatures and will run as an independent rather than the candidate of the ruling United Russia party. He needs 300,000 signatures in total.
The 71-year-old incumbent made his plan to seek an extension of his rule known in December. He is almost set to win a fifth term in office, continuing his 24-year tenure as Russia’s leader, which includes eight years in office.
Nadezhdin, who has called the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine a “fatal mistake,” was born in Soviet-ruled Uzbekistan to a Jewish father who worked as a physicist and a music instructor.
