The Dolgoprudny City Court fined politician Boris Nadezhdin 1,000 rubles under the law on displaying extremist symbols — Article 20.3 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses. The report was published by Mediazona.
The administrative case stemmed from a post on Nadezhdin’s Telegram channel published in 2023. The post contained a link to a livestream hosted by Elvira Vikhareva in which the politician took part. During the broadcast, a photo of Alexei Navalny appeared for about ten seconds, which security officials treated as “extremist symbolism.”
In court, Nadezhdin said the purpose of the case was to “silence him” and prevent him from running in State Duma elections.
As noted in the report, Article 20.3 provides not only for a fine but also for a ban on standing for election for one year. This is also not the only obstacle to the politician’s participation in the parliamentary campaign.
On July 10, the Justice Ministry added Nadezhdin to the “foreign agents” register. In 2024, Vladimir Putin signed a law barring people with that status from running in elections at any level and from serving as observers or authorized representatives of candidates.
During the hearing, Nadezhdin’s blood pressure reportedly rose twice: first to 200/120 and then to 190/110. His lawyer, Natalya Tikhonova, asked for an ambulance to be called. According to Vot Tak and Ostorozhno, Novosti, the medics who arrived were not allowed into the courtroom for about half an hour, and the politician himself was not allowed to go out to see them. Only after the judge left to prepare the ruling were the specialists able to reach Nadezhdin, perform an ECG, and take blood for analysis. After the hearing, the politician left the court on his own, while people gathered outside greeted him with applause.