Russian authorities have banned opposition politician Boris Nadezhdin from leaving the country, a travel restriction imposed on 16 July without a stated reason. Nadezhdin, who is running for a State Duma seat in the September elections, has said he intends to appeal the decision.
The ban follows a 1,000-rouble fine handed down for displaying a photograph of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, stemming from a 2023 social-media post in which Nadezhdin shared a link to a video containing the image. Authorities classified the image as "extremist symbolism". Nadezhdin, who feared a custodial sentence of up to 15 days ahead of the ruling, said he could "die in a stifling jail."
The conviction disqualifies Nadezhdin from standing in the September parliamentary vote, compounding the effect of his recent designation as a "foreign agent" by the Justice Ministry in mid-June.