Boris Nadezhdin says he has left Russia for France

Russian anti-war politician Boris Nadezhdin said on Monday that he had left Russia, posting a video from Paris after recent pressure on his parliamentary campaign.

“I have some good news: I'm alive and free. Unfortunately, not in Russia,” Nadezhdin said in a video on Telegram, with the Eiffel Tower visible in the background. He said he needed time to decide what to do next.

Nadezhdin had been seeking to stand in September parliamentary elections in Dolgoprudny, a town outside Moscow. Authorities recently labelled him a “foreign agent”, briefly detained him and fined him 1,000 rubles, or about $13, for displaying “extremist symbols”.

He later ended his campaign, saying he had been “silenced” and “pushed out of politics”. Nadezhdin also tried to run against President Vladimir Putin in 2024, gathering tens of thousands of signatures before being barred from the vote.

Russia has increased pressure on dissent since launching its 2022 Ukraine offensive.