The Dolgoprudny court in the Moscow Region fined politician Boris Nadezhdin 1,000 rubles on July 17, 2026, under an administrative protocol on displaying “extremist symbols.” The case was triggered by the publication of a link to a video that included a photograph of the slain Alexei Navalny.
Before the ruling was announced, Nadezhdin addressed the court. He said the real purpose of the proceedings was to deprive him of the chance to run in the State Duma election and to “silence” him. According to the politician, a guilty finding would strip him of the right to stand for office, and the fine is part of pressure that began after he announced plans to seek election. Nadezhdin had earlier been designated a “foreign agent,” and that status, along with the penalty imposed, bars him from running.
Nadezhdin said he could not understand why Alexei Navalny’s face was being treated as the symbol of an extremist organization, and called the situation absurd.
He also stressed that, according to him, there was no image of Navalny in his own Telegram channel. The photograph cited in the case, he said, appeared on another person’s YouTube channel. Nadezhdin argued that this sets his case apart from earlier ones in which people were punished for posting Navalny’s photo on their own social media accounts.
The politician also urged the court not to sentence him to arrest, citing his health. He said he has diabetes, is classified as having second-group disability, and has suffered two heart attacks. According to him, his blood pressure was 200 over 120 when he arrived at court, and he might not survive time in a cell. Nadezhdin added that paying a fine would also be difficult because his accounts have been frozen as part of bankruptcy proceedings.
Addressing the judge, Nadezhdin asked the court to rule “by conscience, by law, by common sense” and to find him not guilty.
The source notes that this text is a brief retelling of the politician’s courtroom remarks: the meaning and context were fully preserved, though some fragments of the speech may have been edited or rearranged.