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submitted 9 months ago by girlfreddy@lemmy.ca to c/world@lemmy.world

Boris Nadezhdin has become a dilemma for the Kremlin as he seeks to run in the March 17 presidential election. The question now is whether Russian authorities will allow him on the ballot.

The stocky, bespectacled 60-year-old local legislator and academic has struck a chord with the public, openly calling for a halt to the conflict in Ukraine, the end of mobilizing Russian men for the military, and starting a dialogue with the West. He also has criticized the country’s repression of LGBTQ+ activism.

“The collection of signatures has gone unexpectedly well for us,” Nadezhdin told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday in Moscow. “We didn’t expect this, to be honest.”

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[-] Audiotape@lemm.ee 79 points 9 months ago

Too bad he‘ll fall out of a window anytime soon

[-] bigkahuna1986@lemmy.ml 50 points 9 months ago

Nah man, this guy will only get like 32% of the vote and Putin will get 119%.

[-] SonnyVabitch@lemmy.world 31 points 9 months ago

Having accidentally shot himself twice in the back of the head.

[-] Mbourgon@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

“He was shot twice in the back of the head with a double barrel shotgun - worst case of suicide the sheriff had ever see “ -can’t remember where I heard this.

[-] DemBoSain@midwest.social 4 points 9 months ago

Gary Webb?? (journalist that wrote about Iran-Contra)

[-] Mbourgon@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

I’m thinking something something racism in Texas in the 80s/90s, but I found this too: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30669104/

[-] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago

He fell on those bullets

[-] gregorum@lemm.ee 4 points 9 months ago

Right after a “dose” of tea.

[-] Taako_Tuesday@lemmy.ca 7 points 9 months ago

Well with Navalny as precedent, it seems like they'll throw him in a gulag rather than kill him

[-] SonnyVabitch@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago

He didn't learn from Navalny's example. Clearly there has to be a stronger message to anyone who might come after this guy.

[-] Th4tGuyII@kbin.social 38 points 9 months ago

Anyone want to take bets on how long it'll take for this guy to end up falling out of a building or get into a plane crash?

[-] monk@lemmy.unboiled.info 1 points 9 months ago

Never. Zero need to.

[-] Romanmir@lemmy.today 26 points 9 months ago

How long before he's offered some extra spicy tea?

[-] kromem@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago

Eventually making a martyr out of your political opponents backfires.

It's probably why Navalny is still alive.

You kill your sycophants that pose threats, but you arrest and routinely provide proof of life of your political opponents.

[-] accideath@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

Yea, worst case he’ll probably get the cell next to Navalny

[-] Treczoks@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago

Or a walk by an open window?

[-] JoeKrogan@lemmy.world 25 points 9 months ago

I'm sure the list of voters would be valuable to the current government. Its a list of those who oppose the status quo

[-] dev_null@lemmy.ml 0 points 9 months ago

Isn't voting in Russia anonymous?

[-] JoeKrogan@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

I was referring to the collection of signatures.

[-] Diplomjodler@feddit.de 21 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

They'll put him on trial for some bogus charges and throw him in jail. Just standard procedure.

[-] massive_bereavement@kbin.social 9 points 9 months ago

Or just show him the view from an upper floor's window.

[-] ATDA@lemmy.world 18 points 9 months ago

New law, all windows above the third floor must remain open for fire safety until the election.

[-] InFerNo@lemmy.ml 18 points 9 months ago

The cynic in me tells me this guy is used to gauge how widespread those ideas are within Russia, providing interesting intelligence to Putin.

[-] woelkchen@lemmy.world 10 points 9 months ago

The question now is whether Russian authorities will allow him on the ballot.

The elections are rigged anyway.

[-] rammer@sopuli.xyz 1 points 9 months ago

But they need seemingly legitimate opposition that doesn't really threaten them.

It doesn't matter if the election is rigged or not. It is all about appearances. Even though everyone with a half a brain knows what's going on.

[-] woelkchen@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

I was explaining why it's not a dilemma for the Russian government. You wrote "But..." and then made no counter argument, so I don't see what you're trying to say.

[-] autotldr@lemmings.world 5 points 9 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


The stocky, bespectacled 60-year-old local legislator and academic has struck a chord with the public, openly calling for a halt to the conflict in Ukraine, the end of mobilizing Russian men for the military, and starting a dialogue with the West.

Nadezhdin’s name is a form of the Russian word for “hope,” and although he is highly unlikely to defeat the still-popular Putin, the lines are a rare sign of protest, defiance and optimism in a country that has seen a harsh crackdown on dissent since its troops rolled into Ukraine nearly two years ago.

Waiting to sign a petition in St. Petersburg, Alexander Rakityansky told AP he went through a “period of apathy when I thought I couldn’t do anything.” Now, however, he sees Nadezhdin’s campaign as a chance to exercise his civil rights.

Originally from Belgorod, the Russian border city hit by repeated Ukrainian attacks, Rakityansky said he backed Nadezhdin so his hometown “doesn’t get bombed and people don’t die on the streets.”

For Putin to win a convincing victory, he needs his supporters to turn out and his critics must stay home with no “glimmer of hope,” said Ekaterina Schulmann, a political scientist and nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin.

He has appeared as a pundit on Russian television and even criticized the conflict in Ukraine during a talk show on state-controlled NTV in September 2022 — a rare level of visibility not enjoyed by other opposition politicians such as Navalny and Vladimir Kara-Murza, both now imprisoned.


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this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2024
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