Politician Boris Nadezhdin said he may soon suspend his campaign to collect signatures for nomination in the State Duma elections. He made the statement on The Breakfast Show.
According to Nadezhdin, he theoretically still has about 10 days to keep collecting signatures before a court ruling on a fine under the article on displaying “extremist symbols” comes into force. In practice, however, the politician said the work of his campaign team was disrupted after his detention.
“When I was detained, my headquarters deleted the chat with signature collectors and regional coordinators for safety reasons, and people have not really returned because they are simply afraid. If the candidate they worked for was arrested, people have well-grounded doubts that this is a safe thing to do,” Nadezhdin said.
He added that he would probably decide to suspend the campaign because it is “becoming dangerous for those who take part in it.” The politician said this was the current reality.
In mid-June 2026, Nadezhdin submitted documents to the Central Election Commission to run for the State Duma as an independent candidate and then began collecting signatures in support of his nomination. On July 10, 2026, Russia’s Justice Ministry designated him a “foreign agent.”
Three days later, Nadezhdin was detained. A protocol was drawn up against him under the article on displaying “extremist symbols” because of a photograph of Alexei Navalny. He was later fined 1,000 rubles. He was also barred from leaving Russia.
As the report notes, “foreign agent” status bars a person from taking part in elections in Russia. In addition, Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code, which was used against Nadezhdin, would prohibit him from running for office for one year.