Boris Nadezhdin says peace push forced Russia exit

Russian anti-war politician Boris Nadezhdin said he fled Russia for France after his calls for peace and attempts to contest elections put him at risk of imprisonment.

Nadezhdin, 63, told AFP from a hotel near Paris that he left Russia through Kazakhstan on July 22 after being summoned for questioning by investigators. He said he feared authorities were preparing to launch a criminal case against him.

“I stayed in Russia for as long as I could,” he said. “I tried, until the very last moment, not to cross any red lines, but apparently the red lines have shifted.”

Nadezhdin tried to run for president in 2024 but was barred after becoming a focus for anti-war sentiment. He also sought to stand in tightly controlled parliamentary polls in September, but was declared a “foreign agent”, a label used by Russian authorities against critics.

“If in 2024 I could get away with criticising Putin and the war, now I can't anymore,” he said.

Nadezhdin said demand for change in Russia was “enormous” and that many young people he met wanted peace and a return to normal life. He said he believed that was why he and Russia's only anti-war party, Yabloko, were not allowed to run.

Assessing opposition to the war is difficult because of censorship. Nadezhdin cited a July survey by the Levada Center polling organisation, which is on Moscow's list of foreign agents, showing 62 percent of respondents backed peace talks with Ukraine and 28 percent favoured continuing the fighting.

Nadezhdin, who previously worked in government and parliament and took part in Russian television political shows, said Russian elites were frustrated but afraid to act.

He said diplomats from several countries offered help, but he chose to come to France. His elderly parents and children remain in Russia, and he said he does not yet know where he will live or how he will earn a living.